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Algebra Difficulty 3.2 AMC 10/12 Find the answer

Given that line ll passes through the focus FF of the parabola Γ:y2=2px(p>0)\Gamma :{{y}^{2}}=2px (p > 0), and intersects the parabola Γ\Gamma at points AA and BB. If point AA is (4,4)(4,4):

(I) Find the equation of the parabola Γ\Gamma;

(II) Calculate the length of segment ABAB.

A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

(I) According to the problem, the parabola Γ:y2=2px\Gamma :{{y}^{2}}=2px passes through point A(4,4)A(4,4).

So, we substitute the coordinates of point AA into the equation: 42=2p4p=2{{4}^{2}}=2p\cdot 4 \Rightarrow p=2.

Therefore, the equation of the parabola Γ\Gamma is: y2=4x{{y}^{2}}=4x.

(II) From part (I), we know that the focus FF of the parabola Γ\Gamma has coordinates F(1,0)F(1,0), and we also have point A(4,4)A(4,4).

The slope of line ll is given by: k=frac4041=frac43k=\\frac{4-0}{4-1}=\\frac{4}{3}.

So, the equation of line ll is: y=frac43(x1)y=\\frac{4}{3}(x-1), which can be rewritten as 4x3y4=04x-3y-4=0.

Substituting the equation of the parabola y2=4x{{y}^{2}}=4x into the equation of line ll, we get the coordinates of point BB as B(frac14,1)B(\\frac{1}{4},-1).

Hence, the length of segment ABAB is given by: leftABright=sqrt(4frac14)2+(4+1)2=sqrtfrac62516=boxedfrac254\\left| AB \\right|=\\sqrt{{{(4-\\frac{1}{4})}^{2}}+{{(4+1)}^{2}}}=\\sqrt{\\frac{625}{16}}=\\boxed{\\frac{25}{4}}.

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Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.