Finding the point on an ellipse at which the normal is
furthest from the centre
Consider the ellipse defined by the equation
. At any point (x,y) on this
ellipse there is both a tangent to the ellipse and a normal to the
ellipse. (The normal at a point on a curve is defined to be the line
perpendicular to the tangent.) Find the point on the ellipse whose normal
line is furthest from the centre. (The distance between a point p and a
line L is defined to be the length of the line segment which is
perpendicular to the line L and goes from p to L.)
Instructor
Juris Steprans
email address: steprans@mathstat.yorku.ca
Department of Mathematics and Statistics.
Ross 624 South, ext. 33952
York University
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