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Arkansas Tech University

MATH 2914: Calculus I


Dr. Marcel B. Finan
32 Parametric Equations
In this section we dene parametric equations in the plane and we illustrate
how to draw their graphs.
Parametric equations in the plane are given by a pair of functions
x = f(t) and y = g(t)
which describe the coordinates of the points of some curve in the plane. The
variable t is referred to as a parameter.
Example 32.1
Write the equation of a circle of radius r in both the Cartesian coordinates
form and the parametric form.
Solution.
The equation of the circle in the Cartesian coordinates system is given by
x
2
+ y
2
= 1.
The parametric equations of this circle are given by
x = cos t and y = sin t
Example 32.2
Figure 32.1 shows the graphs of two functions, f(t) and g(t). Describe the
motion of the particle whose coordinates at time t are x = f(t) and y = g(t).
Figure 32.1
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Solution.
For 0 t 1, x moves at a constant rate from 0 to 1 and y moves at a
constant rate from 1 to 0. So the particle moves in a straight line from (0, 1)
to (1, 0). For 1 t 2, the particle moves on a straight line from (1, 0)
to (0, 1). For 2 t 3 the particle moves on a straight line from (0, 1)
to (1, 0). Finally, for 3 t 4, the particle moves on the straight line
from (1, 0) to (0, 1). Thus, the particle traces the diamond shown in Figure
32.2.
Figure 32.2
Remark 32.1
Parametric representations, in general, are not unique. That is, the same
curve can be expressed by a number of dierent parametrizations. For exam-
ple, the representations (x = cos t, y = sin t) and (x = cos (3t), y = sin (3t))
both represent the unit circle. These various representations describe various
motions of a moving particle on the unit circle. Looking at the tables below
we see that the particle on the second curve is moving three times faster than
the one moving on the curve with parametric equations x = cos t, y = sin t.
t cos t sin t
0 1 0

2
0 1
-1 0
3
2
0 -1
2 1 0
t cos (3t) sin (3t)
0 1 0

6
0 1
2
6
-1 0
3
6
0 -1
4
6
1 0
2
Example 32.3
Parametric equations of the unit circle are given below:
x = cos (t
2
), y = sin (t
2
).
Describe in words how the circle is traced out, including when and where
the particle is moving clockwise and when and where the particle is moving
counterclockwise.
Solution.
We have the following values:
t cos (t
2
) sin (t
2
)

2
2

2
2
0 1 0

2
2

2
2
It follows that the particle moves counterclockwise for t > 0 and clockwise
for t < 0
Parametric Equations of a Straight Line
Consider a straight line passing through two points (x
0
, y
0
) and (x
1
, y
1
). Then
the equation of the line is given by
y y
0
=
y
1
y
0
x
1
x
0
(x x
0
).
This is equivalent to
y y
0
y
1
y
0
=
x x
0
x
1
x
0
.
Denote the common value by the parameter t to obtain
y y
0
y
1
y
0
=
x x
0
x
1
x
0
= t.
Equating each fraction seperately to t and solving for x and y we nd
x = x
0
+ (x
1
x
0
)t and y = y
0
+ (y
1
y
0
)t.
These equations are referred to as the parametric equations of the straight
line.
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Example 32.4
Find the parametric equations of the line passing through the points (2, 1)
and (1, 5).
Solution.
The parametric equations are given by
x = 2 3t and y = 1 + 6t.
Remark 32.2
Note that by restricting the parameter t in the previous problem to the
interval [0, 1] we obtain the parametric equations of the line segment from
(2, 1) to (1, 5).
Speed and Velocity
Suppose that the motion of a moving particle is given by a curve with para-
metric equations
x = f(t) and y = g(t).
We dene the instantaneous speed by the formula
v =

dx
dt

2
+

dy
dt

2
.
The quantity v
x
=
dx
dt
is the instantaneous velocity in the x-direction and
v
y
=
dy
dt
is the instantaneous velocity in the y-direction.
Example 32.5
The motion of a particle is given by the parametric equations
x = t
3
3t, y = t
2
2t.
(a) Does the particle ever come to a stop? If so, when and where?
(b) Is the particle ever moving straight up or down? If so, when and where?
(c) Is the particle ever moving straight horizontally right or left? If so, when
and where?
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Solution.
(a) Saying that the particle comes to a stop is equivalent to saying that v = 0,
i.e. v
x
= v
y
= 0. Solving the equations
v
x
=
dx
dt
= 3t
2
3 = 3(t 1)(t + 1) = 0
v
y
=
dy
dt
= 2t 2 = 2(t 1) = 0
give t = 1. Thus, the particle stops when t = 1 at the point (t
3
3t, t
2

2t) |
t=1
= (2, 1).
(b) Saying that the particle is traveling straight up or down is equivalent to
saying that v
x
= 0 and v
y
= 0. Solving the equation v
x
=
dx
dt
= 3(t
2
1) = 0
we nd t = 1. Since v
y
= 0 at t = 1, the only value of t is t = 1. The
position of the particle at that time is (t
3
3t, t
2
2t) |
t=1
= (2, 3).
(c) Saying that the particle is traveling straight left or right is equivalent to
saying that v
x
= 0 and v
y
= 0. Solving the equation v
y
=
dy
dt
= 2(t 1) = 0
we nd t = 1. Since v
x
= 0 at t = 1, the particle is not moving at all.
Slopes of Parametric Curves
Suppose that a curve is dened parametrically by the equations x = f(t)
and y = g(t). The curve can be dened in Cartesian coordinates form either
explicitly or implicitly. In the rst case, we can write y = h(x) and nd
dy
dx
using the chain rule:
dy
dt
=
dy
dx
dx
dt
.
Thus, we obtain the slope of the curve as a function of t :
dy
dx
=
dy/dt
dx/dt
.
Similar procedure applies if the curve is dened by an implicit function. In
this case we use implicit dierentiation.
Example 32.6
Find the slope of the tangent line to the curve dened parametrically by
x = t
3
t and y = t
2
at t = 2. Find the equation of the tangent line.
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Solution.
The point corresponding to t = 2 is (6, 4). We have
dy
dx

(6,4)
=
dy/dt
dx/dt

(6,4)
=
2t
3t
2
1

t=2
=
4
11
The equation of the tangent line is given by
y 4 =
4
11
(x 6)
or in parametric form by
x = 6 + 11t, y = 4 + 4t.
Parametrizing y = f(x)
The graph of any function dened in Cartesian coordinates form y = f(x)
can be parametrized by the equations:
x = t and y = f(t).
Example 32.7
Give parametric equations for the vertical line passing through the point
(2, 3).
Solution.
A possible answer is: x = 2, y = t.
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