Practice Sheet – Ellipse

1. If the line 3x + 4y =  7 touches the ellipse 3x2 + 4y2 = 1 then, the point of contact is

 1 1   1 1   1 1 
(a)  ,  (b)  ,  (c)  ,  (d)
 7 7  3 3  7 7
 1 1 
 , 
 7 7

2. The angle between the tangents drawn from the point (2, 2) to the ellipse 3x2 + 5y2 = 15 is:
(a) /6 (b) /4 (c) /3 (d) /2

3. The equation to the locus of the middle point of the portion of the tangent to the ellipse
x2 y2
  1 included between the coordinate axes is the curve:
16 9
(a) 9 x 2  16 y 2  4 x 2 y 2 (b) 16 x 2  9 y 2  4 x 2 y 2
(c) 3x 2  4 y 2  4 x 2 y 2 (d) 9 x 2  16 y 2  x 2 y 2

x2 y2
4. Q is a point on the auxiliary circle corresponding to the point P of the ellipse   1 . If
a2 b2
T is the foot of the perpendicular dropped from the focus S onto the tangent to the auxiliary
circle at Q then the SPT is:
(a) isosceles (b) equilateral (c) right angled (d) right
isosceles

x2 y2
5. x – 2y + 4 = 0 is a common tangent to y 2  4 x &   1 . Then the value of b and the
4 b2
other common tangent are given by:

(a) b  3 ; x + 2y + 4 = 0 (b) b = 3; x + 2y + 4 = 0
(c) b  3 ; x + 2y – 4 = 0 (d) b  3 ; x – 2y – 4 = 0

x2 y2
6. If F1 & F2 are the feet of the perpendiculars from the foci S1 & S2 of an ellipse   1 on
5 3
the tangent at any point P on the ellipse, then (S1F1)(S2F2) is equal to:
(a) 2 (b) 3 (c) 4 (d) 5

7. The equation, 2 x 2  3 y 2  8 x  18 y  35  K represents:

(a) a point if K = 0 (b) an ellipse if K < 0
(c) an ellipse if K > 0 (d) a hyperbola if K > 0
 x2 y2
8. Let ‘E’ be the ellipse   1 & ‘C’ be the circle x2 + y2 = 9. Let P & Q be the points (1,
9 4
2) and (2, 1) respectively. Then:
(a) Q lies inside C but outside E (b) Q lies outside both C & E
(c) P lies inside both C & E (d) P lies inside C but inside E

9. A ladder 12 units long slides in a vertical plane with its ends in contact with a vertical wall and
a horizontal floor along x-axis. The locus of a point on the ladder 4 units from its foot has the
equation:
x2 x2 y2 x2 y2
(a)  y2  1 (b)  1 (c)  1 (d)
4 16 64 64 16
y2
x2  1
4

x2 a2
10. If the chord through the point whose eccentric angles are  & on the ellipse,  1
a2 b2
   
passes through the focus, then the value of (1 + e) tan   tan   is
2 2
(a) e+1 (b) e–1 (c) 1 – e (d) None

11. The number of real tangents that can be drawn to the ellipse 3x2 + 5y2 = 32 and 25x2 + 9y2 =
450 passing through (3, 5) is
(a) 0 (b) 2 (c) 3 (d) 4

x2 a2
12. The sum of the squares of the perpendicular on any tangent to the ellipse   1 from
a2 b2
two points on the minor axis each at a distance a 2  b 2 from the centre is
(a) 2a2 (b) 2b2 (c) a2 + b2 (d) a2 – b2

x2 a2
13. The normal at an end of a latus rectum of the ellipse   1 passes through an end of the
a2 b2
minor axis if
(a) e4 + e2 = 1 (b) e3 + e2 = 1 (c) e2 + e = 1 (d) e3 + c =
1

14. The locus of the point of intersection of tangents to an ellipse at two points, sum of whose
eccentric angles is constant is a/an
(a) parabola (b) circle (c) ellipse (d) straight
line

15. If P  (x, y), F1 = (3, 0), F2 = (–3, 0) and 16x2 + 25y2 = 400, then PF1 = PF2 equals
(a) 8 (b) 6 (c) 10 (d) 12
 x2 y 2
16. The eccentric angle of a point on the ellipse   1 whose distances from the center of
6 2
the ellipse is 2, is
 3 5 7
(a) (b) (c) (d)
4 2 3 6

x2 y2
17. If any tangent to the ellipse   1 intercepts equal lengths l on the axes, then l =
a2 b2

(a) a + b (b) a2  b2 (c) a – b (d) None of

these

x2 y2
18. The sum of the squares of the perpendicular on any tangent to the ellipse   1 from
a2 b2
two points on the minor axis, each at a distance a 2  b 2 from the center is
(a) 2a2 (b) 2b2 (c) a2 + b2 (d) a2 – b2

19. If  and  are the eccentric angles of the extremities of a focal chord of an ellipse, then the
eccentricity of the ellipse is

cos   cos  sin   sin  cos   cos 

(a) (b) (c) (d)
cos     sin     cos    
sin   sin 
sin    

20. An ellipse has OB as semi-minor axis. F and F are its foci and the angle FBF is a right angle.
The eccentricity of the ellipse is
1 1 1
(a) (b) (c) (d) None of
3 2 2
these

x2 y2
21. The slope of a common tangent to the ellipse   1 and a concentric circle of radius r
a2 b2
is

r 2  b2 r 2  b2  r 2  b2 
(a) tan 1 (b) (c)   (d)
a2  r 2 a2  r2 a r
2 2

a2  r2
r 2  b2

22. Tangents are drawn from the points on the line x – y – 5 = 0 to x2 + 4y2 = 4, then all the chords
of contact pass through a fixed point, whose coordinates are
 1 2 4 1 2 1
(a)  ,  (b)  ,  (c)  ,   (d) None of
5 5 5 5 5 5
these

23. The length of the common chord of the ellipse

x  12   y  22  1 and the circle
9 4
x  12   y  12  1 is
(a) 0 (b) 1 (c) 3 (d) 8

x2 y2
24. Let P be a variable point on the ellipse   1 with foci at S and S. If A be the area of
25 16
PSS, then the maximum value of A is
(a) 24 sq. units (b) 12 sq. units (c) 36 sq. units (d) None of
these

x2 y2
25. If m is the slopes of the line which is a common tangent to the ellipse   1 and the
a 2 b2
parabola y 2  4ax , then m belongs to
(a) (0, 2) (b) (3, 5) (c) (0, 1) (d) None of
these

x2
26. The number of values of c such that the straight line y = 4x + c touches the curve  y2  1
4
is

(a) 0 (b) 1 (c) 2 (d)infinite

27. The eccentricity of the ellipse 2x2 + 3y2 = 1 is

1 1 1
(a) (b) (c) (d) None of
3 3 4
these

x2 y2
28. Length of latus rectum of the ellipse 2  2  1 is
a b
b2 2b 2
(a) 4a (b) 2a (c) (d)
a a

x2 y2
29. In an ellipse   1 if the distance between the directrices is 3 times the distance between
a2 b2
the foci, then e =
1 1 1 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
2 3 2 3
30. An ellipse has a minor axis of length 6 and the distance between its foci is 8. Its equation is:
x2 y2 x2 y2 x2 y2
(a)  1 (b)  1 (c)  1 (d)
6 9 6 5 25 9
x2 y2
 1
9 25

ANSWERS
1. d 2. d 3. a 4. a 5. a 6. b 7. a 8. d 9. c 10. b

11. b 12. a 13. a 14. d 15. c 16. a 17. b 18. a 19. d 20. c

21. b 22. b 23. a 24. b 25. c 26. c 27. a 28. d 29. d 30. c