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Geometry Difficulty 3.2 AMC 10/12 Find the answer

In the Cartesian coordinate system xOyxOy, the eccentricity of the hyperbola x24y23=1\frac{x^2}{4} - \frac{y^2}{3} = 1 is ______.

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

According to the problem, the equation of the hyperbola is x24y23=1\frac{x^2}{4} - \frac{y^2}{3} = 1,
thus a2=4a^2=4, b2=3b^2=3,
then c=a2+b2=7c= \sqrt{a^2+b^2}= \sqrt{7},
therefore, its eccentricity e=ca=72e= \frac{c}{a}= \frac{\sqrt{7}}{2};
Hence, the answer is 72\boxed{\frac{\sqrt{7}}{2}}.
Based on the problem, the values of a2a^2 and b2b^2 can be obtained from the equation of the hyperbola, and the value of cc can be derived from the geometric properties of the hyperbola, which then allows for the calculation of the eccentricity using the formula for the eccentricity of a hyperbola.
This question examines the geometric properties of hyperbolas, with a key focus on being familiar with the standard form of the equation of a hyperbola.

Solution 2

To find the eccentricity ee of the hyperbola, recall the standard form of a hyperbola equation:

x2a2y2b2=1\frac{x^2}{a^2} - \frac{y^2}{b^2} = 1

where aa and bb are the lengths of the semi-major and semi-minor axes respectively, and the eccentricity ee is defined as:

e=1+b2a2e = \sqrt{1 + \frac{b^2}{a^2}}

However, this definition changes for a hyperbola to:

e=1+a2b2e = \sqrt{1 + \frac{a^2}{b^2}}

since a2a^2 corresponds to the term with the positive coefficient.

Given the hyperbola equation x24y23=1\frac {x^{2}}{4} - \frac {y^{2}}{3} = 1, we can identify that:

a2=4andb2=3a^2 = 4 \quad \text{and} \quad b^2 = 3

Thus, the distance cc from the center to a focus of the hyperbola is:

c=a2+b2=4+3=7c = \sqrt {a^2 + b^2} = \sqrt {4 + 3} = \sqrt {7}

Finally, the eccentricity ee of the hyperbola is:

e=ca=72e = \frac {c}{a} = \frac {\sqrt {7}}{2}

Therefore, the eccentricity of the given hyperbola is 72\boxed{\frac {\sqrt {7}}{2}}.

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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.