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Given that $\frac{(x-3)^2}{9} - \frac{(y-2)^2}{4} = 1$ is equation a hyperbola, I have to find its tangent at the point $\left(-2,\frac{14}{3} \right)$.

I know about the equations $c^2=(am)^2-b^2$ and $\frac{xx1}{a^2} - \frac{yy1}{b^2} = 1$ but cant figure how to apply those here since the centre is not at origin.

amWhy
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Law
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  • Hi and welcome to Math.SE ,we use MATHJAX to write math equations here , please take a tour https://math.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/5020/mathjax-basic-tutorial-and-quick-reference – Awakened Sep 22 '18 at 12:27
  • Use https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/774250/finding-the-equations-of-the-lines-and-tangent-to-the-circle OR https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/2254073/the-line-y-mxc-is-a-tangent-to-x2y2-a2-if – lab bhattacharjee Sep 22 '18 at 15:30
  • Oh I see... Didn't get such a simple thing... My bad. Thanks to all who helped me solve this :D – Law Sep 23 '18 at 19:03

4 Answers4

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Your hyperbola is $\frac{(x- 3)^2}{9}- \frac{(y- 2)^2}{4}= 1$ and you want to find the tangent line to it "at (-2, 14/3)". The first thing I would do is check to make sure that point is on the hyperbola. With x= -2, $(x- 3)^2= 25$ and $\frac{(x- 3)^2}{9}= \frac{25}{9}$. With $y= \frac{14}{3}$, $(y- 2)^2= \frac{64}{9}$ and $\frac{y- 14/3}{4}= \frac{16}{9}$. Yes, a bit to my surprise, $\frac{(x- 3)^2}{9}- \frac{(y- 2)^2}{4}= \frac{25}{9}- \frac{16}{9}= \frac{9}{9}= 1$ and the point is on the hyperbola!

Now, do you know what a "tangent line" is and how to find the slope of a tangent line without simply plugging into formulas? Using "implicit differentiation" to differentiate both sides with respect to x, we have $\frac{2}{9}(x- 3)- \frac{1}{2}(y- 2)y'= 0$. In particular, at x= -2, y= 14/3, $\frac{2}{9}(-5)- \frac{1}{2}\frac{8}{3}y'= -\frac{10}{9}-\frac{4}{3}y'= 0$ so $y'= -\left(\frac{3}{4}\right)\left(\frac{10}{9}\right)= -\frac{5}{6}$. The tangent line is $y= -\frac{5}{6}\left(x+ 2\right)+ \frac{14}{3}$

user247327
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given hyperbola is $$\frac{(x-3)^2}{9} - \frac{(y-2)^2}{4} = 1$$ now differentiate the equation with respect to x to get the slope of tangent at that point $$\implies {d\over dx}\left(\frac{((x-3)^2}{9} - \frac{(y-2)^2}{4} = 1 \right)\implies \frac{2}{9}(x- 3)- \frac{1}{2}(y- 2){dy\over dx}= 0 \\ \implies{dy\over dx}= -\frac{5}{6} \ \ \ at\ (x_1,y_1)=(-2,{14\over3})$$ and the tangent line is $$y-y_1=m(x-x_1)\implies y= -\frac{5}{6}\left(x+ 2\right)+ \frac{14}{3}$$

Awakened
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$$\frac{(x-3)^2}{9} - \frac{(y-2)^2}{4} = 1$$ $$ {d\over dx}\left(\frac{((x-3)^2}{9} - \frac{(y-2)^2}{4} \right)=0$$ $$ \frac{2}{9}(x- 3)- \frac{2}{4}(y- 2){dy\over dx}= 0 $$ $$ \frac{4(x- 3)}{9(y- 2)}= {dy\over dx} $$ $${dy\over dx}\biggr|_{(-2,{14\over3})}= -\frac{5}{6} $$

Thus the equation of the tangent is

$$(y-\frac{14}{3})=\frac{-5}{6}(x+2)$$

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From the question on the Instant Tangent here, the equation of the tangent at $\big(-2, \frac {14}3\big)$ is $$\begin{align} \frac {(x-3)(-2-3)}9-\frac {(y-2)(\frac {14}3-2)}4&=1 \\5x+6y&=18\end{align}$$

The formula is the same as the one you quoted, except for the translation from origin to $(3,2)$.