Practicing Success
Equation of the tangent at the point P (t), where t is any parameter, to the parabola y2 = 4ax is |
$y t=x+a t^2$ $y=x t+a t^2$ $y=t x$ $y=t x+\frac{a}{t}$ |
$y t=x+a t^2$ |
Coordinates of the point P are (at2, 2at) Differentiating $y^2=4 a x \Rightarrow 2 y \frac{d y}{d x}=4 a$ $\Rightarrow \frac{d y}{d x}=\left.\frac{2 a}{y} \Rightarrow \frac{d y}{d x}\right|_P=\frac{2 a}{2 a t}=\frac{1}{t}$ ∴ equation of tangent is $y-2 a t=\frac{1}{t}\left(x-a t^2\right) \Rightarrow x-y t+a t^2=0$ |