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Tangents to an Ellipse

Tangents to an Ellipse

In this activity, you will explore the properties of tangents to an ellipse using an interactive construction:
  1. Ellipse and Foci: Two points, F1 and F2, define the foci of the ellipse, and a slider sets the semi-major axis a.
  2. Draggable Point (P): A point P lies on the ellipse and can be dragged along its curve.
  3. Tangent Line at P: The tangent line at P updates dynamically as P moves.
  4. Drag Test with Point Q:
    • You can drag a free point Q.
    • The activity checks whether Q lies on the tangent at P.
  5. Explore: Drag P to see the tangent move and experiment with placing Q to understand how points relate to the tangent line.