Let and be points on the line . Let divide in the ratio . Let be a directrix of the ellipse , and focus such that a perpendicular from passes through . Find the length of the latus rectum:
- A
- B
- C
- D
Let and be points on the line . Let divide in the ratio . Let be a directrix of the ellipse , and focus such that a perpendicular from passes through . Find the length of the latus rectum:
Correct answer:D
Standard Method
Given: and lie on . Point divides in the ratio . The directrix of the ellipse is .
Find: the length of the latus rectum.
First find using the line equation:
So,
Hence,
Using the section formula for internal division in the ratio ,
Therefore,
For the ellipse
the focus is . Since a perpendicular from passes through , the focus has -coordinate . Hence,
The directrix of the ellipse is
So,
Using and , we get
Now use
Thus,
The length of the latus rectum of the ellipse is
Therefore,
So, the length of the latus rectum is . The correct option is D.
Using directrix and focus relations
Given: , , line , ratio , directrix .
Find: the latus rectum length of the ellipse.
Since lies on ,
Hence,
Now divide in the ratio :
So the perpendicular from the focus passes through means the focus is vertically aligned with , giving
Thus,
For the standard ellipse, the directrix corresponding to the right focus is
Given directrix:
Combining with
we obtain
Therefore,
and then
Now,
where
Thus,
Hence latus rectum length is
Therefore, the required answer is .
Using the section formula incorrectly for the ratio . This gives a wrong point , which then gives a wrong focus coordinate. Always use the internal division formula carefully and verify that .
Confusing the directrix formula of the ellipse and taking the directrix as or directly as . For the ellipse , the directrix is .
Using incorrectly after finding and . A common error is substituting the wrong value of or squaring incorrectly. Compute first, then find .
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