Hey guys,
I need help with the following question:
Consider the function x^2=8y. Tangents are drawn at the points A(4,2) and B(-4,2( and intersect on the y-axis. Find the area bounded by the curve and the tangents.
Thanks in advance.
Hey hey!! This is a big question, the first few steps laid out are:
- Rearrange the equation to make \(y\) the subject
- Differentiate the function
- Determine the gradients of the function at the two points of interest using the derivative
- Use these gradients and the point-gradient formula to find the equations of the two tangents
At this point, you have the equation of the parabola and two lines. The area enclosed between them can be split in half, one from \(x=-4\) to \(x=0\) (the y-axis), and one from \(x=0\) to \(x=4\). You need to then find each of those using an integral! The first half, for example, would be:
dx)
And the second half:
dx)
Calculate those and add them up! The tricky bit about this is really just sequencing your actions, and then visualising how to divide that area you get as a result - Hopefully you are able to form a sketch because that helps heaps! I wanted to put one but Imgur is failing on me for some reason

anyways, hopefully this helps add some clarity, but definitely skipped the bulk of it. If you let me know where you are having trouble specifically I can help some more!
