What is the parametric equation of an ellipse?

1 Answer
Apr 21, 2018

Here is one example...

Explanation:

You can have (nsin(t),mcos(t)) when nm, and n and m do not equal to 1.

This is essentially because:

x=nsin(t)

x2=n2sin2(t)

x2n2=sin2(t)

y=mcos(t)

y2m2=cos2(t)

x2n2+y2m2=sin2(t)+cos2(t)

Using the fact that sin2(x)+cos2(x)=1...

x2n2+y2m2=1

This is essentially an ellipse!

Note that if you want a non-circle ellipse, you have to make sure that nm