Rotation of Axes

y y

P
r
N 2 x x

The point P is the same in both the xy and xy coordinate systems. The point can be represented in the xy plane as x = r cos ( + ) and y = r sin ( + ) The point can be represented in the xy plane as x = r cos and y = r sin Using the sum of angles identities from trigonometry gives us ...

x = r cos ( + ) = r cos cos r sin sin = x cos y sin

y = r sin ( + ) = r cos sin + r sin cos = x sin + y cos

Substituting x and y into the general form Ax 2 + Bxy + Cy 2 + Dx + Ey + F = 0 gives:

A ( x cos y sin ) + B ( x cos y sin )( x sin + y cos ) + 2 C ( x sin + y cos ) + D ( x cos y sin ) + E ( x sin + y cos ) + F = 0
2

Expanding the factors gives:

A ( x2 cos 2 2 xy cos sin + y2 sin 2 ) + B ( x2 cos sin + xy cos 2 xy sin 2 y2 cos sin ) + C ( x2 sin 2 + 2 xy cos sin + y2 cos 2 ) + D ( x cos y sin ) + E ( x sin + y cos ) + F = 0

Collecting the terms yields:

x2 ( A cos 2 + B cos sin + C sin 2 ) + xy B ( cos 2 sin 2 ) 2 ( A C ) cos sin + y2 ( A sin 2 B cos sin + C cos 2 ) + x ( D cos + E sin ) + y ( D sin + E cos ) + F = 0

The double angle identities cos 2 = cos sin and sin 2 = 2cos sin allow us to rewrite the xy term.
2 2

x2 ( A cos 2 + B cos sin + C sin 2 ) + xy ( B cos 2 ( A C ) sin 2 ) + y2 ( A sin 2 B cos sin + C cos 2 ) + x ( D cos + E sin ) + y ( D sin + E cos ) + F = 0
2 2

The general form can be written as Ax + Bxy + C y + Dx + E y + F = 0 where

A = A cos 2 + B cos sin + C sin 2 B = B cos 2 ( A C ) sin 2 C = A sin 2 B cos sin + C cos 2 D = D cos + E sin E = D sin + E cos F = F
The goal is to find the angle of rotation such that B = 0 . Some people will find it easier to use

B cos 2 ( A C ) sin 2 = 0 B cos 2 = ( A C ) sin 2 cos 2 A C = sin 2 B AC cot 2 = B AC 2 = cot 1 B 1 AC = cot 1 2 B

We don't because it is possible that A = C and you might get division by zero. We can avoid this by using the inverse cotangent function. We know that B will never be zero since the whole point is to eliminate the xy term. Also, the range of the inverse cotangent is between 0E and 180E, so 0 < 2 < 180 , which means that 0 < < 90 .

= tan 1 2 AC

While it is possible to get an angle using this formula, it is usually easier to draw a triangle with 2 as the angle and use the half-angle identities to find the values for sin and cos .

cos 2 =

1 + cos 2 1 cos 2 2 and sin = 2 2

The discriminant, B 4 AC , can be used to determine the type of conic section. The discriminant is not affected by the rotation, so you can use the original coefficients or the new ones after the rotation. The discriminant does not detect the degenerate cases. 2 If B 4 AC < 0 , the conic is a circle or an ellipse. 2 If B 4 AC = 0 , the conic is a parabola. 2 If B 4 AC > 0 , the conic is a hyperbola.
2

Example Problem
The discriminant is B
2

2 7 x 2 2 70 xy + 5 7 y 2 28

( 2 + 2 5 ) x + 28 ( 5 2 2 ) y 28 7 = 0 4 AC = ( 2 70 ) 4 ( 2 7 )( 5 7 ) = 280 280 = 0
2

Since the discriminant is 0, this is going to be a parabola.

AC 2 7 5 7 3 7 3 = = = B 2 70 2 70 2 10 1 1 2 10 32.31153324 If you need to know the angle, then = tan 2 3 But you don't need to know the angle to get rid of the xy term. 3 Draw a triangle so that cot 2 = and use it to determine the values 2 10 cot 2 =
for the cosine and sine using the half angle identities. Use the positive values for cos and sin since is an acute angle.

1 + cos 2 1 + 3/ 7 5 = = 2 2 7 1 cos 2 1 3/ 7 2 sin 2 = = = 2 2 7 cos 2 =

5 7 2 sin = 7 cos =

Make the substitutions into the formulas above.

5 2 5 2 10 20 10 A = 2 7 + 2 70 + =0 +5 7 = 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 2 10 6 10 6 10 3 B = 2 70 2 7 5 7 + =0 = 7 7 7 7

 5 2 20 25 49 2 5 4 + + = C = 2 7 2 70 +5 7 = 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 5 2 + D = 28 2 + 2 5 28 5 2 2 7 7 28 392 = 10 + 10 10 + 4 = 7 7 2 5 E = 28 2 + 2 5 + 28 5 2 2 7 7 28 196 = 2 + 2 10 + 5 2 10 = 7 7 F = 28 7 49 2 392 196 y x + y 28 7 = 0 . The new equation in the xy plane is 7 7 7 7 Multiplying everything by gives y2 8 x + 4 y 4 = 0 . 49

( (
(

))

Notice that the discriminant is still zero.

B2 4 AC = 02 4 ( 0 )(1) = 0

Graph before rotation.

If you put general equation into standard form by completing the square, you get

y 2 + 4 y = 8 x + 4 y 2 + 4 y + 4 = 8 x + 4 + 4 2 ( y + 2 ) = 8 ( x + 1) 2 ( y + 2 ) = 4 ( 2 )( x + 1)
This is a parabola with a vertex at ( 1, 2 ) , opening along the positive x axis, with a focal length of 2. That puts the focus at (1, 2 ) and the directrix at x = 3 . Use tan =

Same graph after rotation by 32.3 .

sin 2 = cos 5

7 2 = to get the correct 7 5

angle on the rotated axes.