Knowledge Base

Solution 11767: Graphing an Ellipse on a Texas Instruments Graphing Calculator.

How do I graph an ellipse on a Texas Instruments graphing calculator?

To input an ellipse into the Y= Editor of a TI graphing calculator, the equation for the ellipse would need to solved in terms of y. The example below will demonstrate how to graph an ellipse.

For Example:
Graph an ellipse where a=1, b=1, and the center of the ellipse is at point (5,6).

1) The equation for an ellipse with its center at point (h,k) is,

((x-h)²/a²)+((y-k)²/b²)=1

2) With substitution,

((x-5)²/1²)+((y-6)²/1²)=1

3) After solving for y, the results are:

y = -(-x²+10x-24)+6

and

y = (-x²+10x-24)+6

4) The equations can now be entered into the Y= Editor to display the graph of the ellipse.

Please see the TI Graphing family guidebooks for additional information.

TI-83 Plus family and TI-84 Plus family owners can take advantage of the free Conic Graphing App, which provides a simple way to graph the four conic shapes.

TI-Nspire Family Handheld owners can graph an ellipse directly using Equation Template from the Graph page, please see the TI-Nspire CX, TI-Nspire CX CAS, TI-Nspire and TI-Nspire CAS guidebooks for additional information.