PARAMETRIC

EQUATIONS
(Lesson 14)
Math 14

Plane and Analytic Geometry

OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the lesson, the student is
expected to be able to:
define parametric equation.
sketch the graphs of parametric equations
by point
plotting.

find the equation by eliminating the

parameter of the
parametric equation and sketch the graph.

DEFINITION: PARAMETRIC
EQUATIONS
If there are functions f and g with a
common domain T, the equations x = f(t)
and y = g(t), for t in T, are parametric
equations of the curve consisting of all
points ( f(t), g(t) ), for t in T. The variable t is
the parameter.
The equations
x = t + 2 and y =
3t 1
for example are parametric equations and t
is the parameter. The equations define a
graph. If t is assigned a value, corresponding
values are determined for x and y. The pair

as t varies through all its chosen values. We

can eliminate t between the equations and
obtain an equation involving x and y. Thus,
solving either equation for t and substituting
in the other, we get
3x y = 7
The graph of this equation, which also the
graph of the parametric equations, is a
Example
1:
Sketch the graph of the
straight
line.
parametric equations x = 2 + t
and y = 3 t2 .
t

-3

-2

-1

-1

-6

-1

-1

-6

t=0

t=1
t=-1
t=-2

t=-3

t=2

t=3

Example 2:
Eliminate the parameter
between x = t + 1
and y = t2 + 3t + 2 and
sketch the graph.
Solution:
Solving x = t + 1 for t, we have t = x 1.
Substitute into y = t2 + 3t + 2, then
y = (x 1)2 + 3(x 1) + 2
y = x2 2x + 1 + 3x 3 + 2
y = x2 + x
Reducing to the standard form,
y + = x2 + x +
y + = (x + )2 , a parabola
with V(-,-)
opening upward

2
1
-2

-1

0
-1
-2

Example 3:
Eliminate the parameter
between x = sin t
and y = cos t and sketch the
graph.
Solution:
Squaring both sides of the parametric
equations, we have
x2 = sin2 t
and
y2 =
cos2 t
And adding the two equations will give us
x2 + y2 = sin2 t + cos2 t
But
sin2 t + cos2 t = 1
Therefore
x2 + y2 = 1 , a circle with C(0, 0)

y
2

-2

-1

-1

-2

Example 4:
Find the parametric
representation for the line through
(1, 5) and (-2, 3).
Solution:
Letting (1, 5) and (-2, 3) be the first and
second points, respectively, of
x = x1 + r(x2 x1)
and
y = y1 + r(y2 y1)
We then have
x = 1 + r(-2 1)
and
y=
5 + r(3 5)
x = 1 3r
y=5
2r

Example 5:
Eliminate the parameter
between
x = sin t + cos t and y = sin t.
Solution:
2 sin2 t
1
Solving sin2 cos
t +t cos
t = 1 for cos t, we have
1tsin
Substitute into x = sin
+2 tcos t , then
x = sin t +
2
1
y
But
y = sin t and y2 = sin2 t
2
1
y
Therefore
x=y+
xy=
Squaring both sides
(x y)2 = 1 y2

Exercises:
Eliminate the parameter and sketch the curve.
1.
x = t2 + 1, y = t + 1
2.
x = t2 + t 2 , y = t + 2
3.
x = cos , y = cos2 + 8 cos
4.
x = 4 cos , y = 7 sin
5.
x = cos , y = sin 2
6.
x = 1 + cos 2 , y = 1 sin

REFERENCES
Analytic Geometry