A circle of radius 1 whose center is on the -axis is normal to the parabola as shown in the figure above. Find the -coordinate axis displacement from the center of the circle.
Give the answer to 5 decimal places.
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The parabola equation is y 1 = x 2 while the circle equation (the upper part) is y 2 = 1 − x 2 + c , being c the y coordinate of the circle center.
In the intersection point, the intersection is normal. That means that d x d y 1 = d x d y 2 − 1 . Or:
2 x = 1 − x 2 − x − 1
2 x 2 = 1 − x 2
4 x 4 + x − 1 = 0
Solving for bhaskara, and since the intersection point iss both a solution for the parabola and the circle x 2 = y = 0 . 3 9 0 3 8 8 2 0 3 . . . and x = 0 . 6 2 4 8 1 0 5 3 4 . . .
Pluggin this in the circle equation y 2 = 1 − x 2 + c leads to c = − 0 . 3 9 0 3 8 8 2 0 3 . Since the displacement is the absolut value, out answer is 0 . 3 9 0 3 8 8 2 0 3