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15.03 Equations of tangent lines

Lesson

Now that we can find the slope of a tangent line, we are going to be able to find the equation of a tangent line. 

The following lessons were covered way back when we were learning how to find the slope of a straight line, well; because tangents are straight lines all the strategies we learned then still apply now.

  • Slope-Intercept form (uses the slope and the y intercept to form the equation) 
  • Point-Slope formula (uses the slope and any other point on the line to form the equation) 
  • The two point formula (uses any two points on the line to form the equation) 
  • Finding the equation of a line (a mixed set to practice all three forms) 

 

Examples

Example 1

Find the equation of the tangent to the curve, at the point $(1,-3)$(1,3).

We have the point $(1,-3)$(1,3) and we can easily identify up to $3$3 other points, the points $(3,1),(2,-1)$(3,1),(2,1) and $(0,-5)$(0,5) are also on the tangent line.  We need only choose one of them to help us find the equation.  I'm going to choose $(0,-5)$(0,5).

Now that we have $2$2 points on the line $(1,-3)$(1,3) and $(0.-5)$(0.5) I can use the two point formula to construct the equation.

$\frac{y-y_1}{x-x_1}$yy1xx1 $=$= $\frac{y_2-y_1}{x_2-x_1}$y2y1x2x1
$\frac{y--3}{x-1}$y3x1 $=$= $\frac{-5--3}{0-1}$5301
$\frac{y+3}{x-1}$y+3x1 $=$= $\frac{-2}{-1}$21
$y+3$y+3 $=$= $2(x-1)$2(x1)
$y+3$y+3 $=$= $2x-2$2x2
$y$y $=$= $2x-5$2x5

 

For this question, I could also have used the point slope formula by first finding the slope ($m=2$m=2) and any of the points listed above. I could also have used the slope intercept formula because we have the y intercept of $-5$5.  

Worked Examples:

question 1

Answer the following.

  1. Consider the function $f\left(x\right)$f(x) drawn below.

    Plot the function $g\left(x\right)=2x-1$g(x)=2x1 on the graph.

    Loading Graph...
  2. Is $g\left(x\right)$g(x) a tangent to $f\left(x\right)$f(x)?

    Yes

    A

    No

    B

question 2

Consider the curve $f\left(x\right)$f(x) drawn below along with $g\left(x\right)$g(x), which is a tangent to the curve.

Loading Graph...

  1. What are the coordinates of the point at which $g\left(x\right)$g(x) is a tangent to the curve $f\left(x\right)$f(x)?

    Note that this point has integer coordinates. Give your answer in the form $\left(a,b\right)$(a,b).

  2. What is the slope of the tangent line?

  3. Hence determine the equation of the line $y=g\left(x\right)$y=g(x).

question 3

Consider the curve $f\left(x\right)$f(x) drawn below along with $g\left(x\right)$g(x), which is a tangent to the curve.

Loading Graph...

  1. What are the coordinates of the point at which $g\left(x\right)$g(x) is a tangent to the curve $f\left(x\right)$f(x)?

    Note that this point has integer coordinates. Give your answer in the form $\left(a,b\right)$(a,b).

  2. What is the slope of the tangent line?

  3. Hence determine the equation of the line $y=g\left(x\right)$y=g(x).

  4. What is the $x$x-coordinate of the point on the curve at which we could draw a tangent line that has the same slope as $g\left(x\right)$g(x)?

 

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