Parabolas within parabolas

Geometry Level 5

P o P_{o} is the parabola y 2 = 4 x y^{2}=4x with vertex K ( 0 , 0 ) K(0,0) , A A and B B are points on P o P_{o} where tangents are at right angles. Let C C be the centroid of Δ A B K \Delta ABK . The locus of C C is another parabola P 1 P_{1} . Now the process is repeated with P 1 P_{1} then P 2 , P 3 . . . . P_{2},P_{3}.... etc. Then the length of latus rectum of P 10 P_{10} can be expressed as a b \frac{a}{b} where a , b a,b are co prime natural numbers.

Find a + b a+b .


This my original problem.


The answer is 59053.

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1 solution

Tanishq Varshney
May 9, 2015

The answer is 4 3 10 \frac{4}{3^{10}} . here is the solution.

Since tangents are at right angles, the line joining the point of contacts is the focal chord.

here a = 1 a=1

Let A A ( t 1 2 , 2 t 1 ) (t_{1}^{2},2t_{1}) and B B ( t 2 2 , 2 t 2 ) (t_{2}^{2},2t_{2}) .

Since these are end points of focal chord t 1 t 2 = 1 t_{1}t_{2}=-1

let t 1 = t t_{1}=t

Point A ( t 2 , 2 t ) A(t^{2},2t) and B ( 1 t 2 , 2 t ) B(\frac{1}{t^{2}},-\frac{2}{t})

Let centroid C ( h , k ) C(h,k) and given K ( 0 , 0 ) K(0,0)

h = t 2 + 1 t 2 + 0 3 \huge{h=\frac{t^{2}+\frac{1}{t^{2}}+0}{3}} ....... ( 1 ) (1)

and

k = 2 t 2 t + 0 3 \huge{k=\frac{2t-\frac{2}{t}+0}{3}}

=> t 1 t = 3 k 2 \large{t-\frac{1}{t}=\frac{3k}{2}}

From ( 1 ) (1)

3 h 2 = ( t 1 t ) 2 3h-2=(t-\frac{1}{t})^{2}

P 1 = y 2 = 4 3 ( x 2 3 ) \large{P_{1}= y^{2}=\frac{4}{3}(x-\frac{2}{3})}

on repeating similar procedure

P 2 = y 2 = 4 3 2 ( x 4 9 ) \large{P_{2}=y^{2}=\frac{4}{3^{2}}(x-\frac{4}{9})} thus

P 10 = y 2 = 4 3 10 ( x 2 10 3 10 ) \large{P_{10}=y^{2}=\frac{4}{3^{10}}(x-\frac{2^{10}}{3^{10}})}

a + b = 4 + 3 10 = 59053 \large{\boxed{a+b=4+3^{10}=59053}}

Pl.post the solution.

rachit parikh - 6 years, 1 month ago

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@rachit parikh hope its understandable

Tanishq Varshney - 6 years, 1 month ago

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Actually I solved till p1..and got stuck..thanks for the solution.

rachit parikh - 6 years, 1 month ago

The first line in the solution has a typo , it should be 4 3 10 \frac4{3^{10}} and not 1 3 10 \frac1{3^{10}}

Ankit Kumar Jain - 3 years ago

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Thanks. Updated.

Calvin Lin Staff - 3 years ago

The question asks for length of latus rectum. Latus rectum's length is 4*a, and not a. For parabola P(10), value of a came out to be 1/(3)^10. Hence latus rectum must be 4/(3)^10. Hence a + b + 3 came out to be 59056. Thus I believe this solution is wrong. Please correct me if I have mistaken.

Utkarsh Singh - 6 years, 1 month ago

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Thanks. Those who answered 59056, 59057 (under different versions of this problem) have been marked correct.

In future, if you spot any errors with a problem, you can “report” it by selecting "report problem" in the “dot dot dot” menu in the lower right corner. This will notify the problem creator who can fix the issues.

Calvin Lin Staff - 6 years, 1 month ago

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