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Grade 12th passAnalytical Geometry

Distance of a focal chord of the parabola y2 = 4x from the vertex is 2 units then its length is

Profile image of Prem Pradeep
10 Years agoGrade 12th pass
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1 Answer

Profile image of Vijay Mukati
10 Years ago
Dera Student,

Assume any point on parabola P(at2, 2at) and PQ is focal chord then coordinates of Q will be (a/t2, -2a/t). Since value of a = 1.
Now write the equation of line PQ using two- point form.
Since its distance from the vertex is 2. So apply this condition, you will get the value of t and then you can easily find the length of PQ.
Also remember, length of focal chord is a(t+1/t)2

Thanks.