Finding the axis and orientation of an ellipse

zdebe5l8

zdebe5l8

Answered question

2022-04-05

Finding the axis and orientation of an ellipse with matrices
So I have this ellipse equation:
5x2+10y212xy=14
I'm asked to get the lengh of the semi-major and semi-minor axis, and it's orientation.

Answer & Explanation

dabCrupedeedaejrg

dabCrupedeedaejrg

Beginner2022-04-06Added 10 answers

Given 5x2+10y212xy=14
When this is translated into matrix-vector form, we define the position vector as p=xy, then we write the equation as pTAp+bTp+c=0
Where A is a symmetric 2×2 matrix, b is a 2×1 vector, and c is a scalar.
The first term is pTAp=x2A11+y2A22+2xyA12
Comparing with the given equation, one finds that
A=5 -6-6 10
The second term is bTp=b1x+b2y
Comparing with the given equation, we find that b is the zero vector.
Finally, taking 14 to the left hand side, we deduce that c=14
Therefore, the equation in matrix-vector form is
pTAp+c=0
The next thing you need to do is diagonlize matrix A, i.e. find a rotation matrix R and a diagonal matrix D such that A=RDRT
There is a standard way to do this diagonalization that you should memorize
1. Calculate θ=12tan-12A12A11-A22
2. Calculate the rotation matrix R=cosθ -sinθsinθ cosθ
3. Calculate the diagonal matrix D=D11 00 D22 where
D11=A11cos2θ+A22sin2θ+A12sin2θ
D22=A11sin2θ+A22cos2θA12sin2θ
Following the above steps, we find that θ=12tan1125
Therefore θ (and (2θ) are in the first quadrant. Using the trigonometric identities
cos2θ=12(1+cos2θ)
Since tan(2θ)=125
Hence cosθ=12(1813)=313 and sinθ=12(813)=213
Thus for the second step, we have the rotation matrix as
R=1133 -22 3
For the third step, we have for diagonal matrix
D11=5(913)+10(413)6(2)(613)=1
D22=5(413)+10(913)+6(2)(613)=14
With all these calculations, we can now write the equation of the ellipse as
pTRDRT+c=0
To put this in the standard form divide by (c)=(14)=14, then pTRERTp=1
where the matrix E=(D14) is equal to
E=D/14=114 00 1
Now define the vector q=RTp so that p=Rq, then it follows that qTEq=1
Hence q12E11+q22E22=q1214+q221=1
Thus the coordinate vector of q lies on an ellipse (in standard orientation) with semi-major axis =14, and semi-minor axis =1=1. Our ellipse which is in terms of the vector p is just a rotation of q-ellipse by the angle θ because p=Rq, and R is a rotation matrix by angle θ (counter clockwise).

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