If $\frac{\mathrm{x}}{\mathrm{ma}}+\frac{\mathrm{y}}{\mathrm{nb}}=1$ touches the ellipse…

If $\frac{\mathrm{x}}{\mathrm{ma}}+\frac{\mathrm{y}}{\mathrm{nb}}=1$ touches the ellipse $\frac{x^{2}}{a^{2}}+\frac{y^{2}}{b^{2}}=1,$ then
  1. $\mathrm{m}^{2}=\frac{\mathrm{n}^{2}}{\mathrm{n}^{2}-1}$ or $\mathrm{n}^{2}=\frac{\mathrm{m}^{2}}{\mathrm{~m}^{2}-1}$
  2. $\mathrm{m}^{2}=\frac{\mathrm{n}^{2}}{\mathrm{n}^{2}+1}$ or $\mathrm{n}^{2}=\frac{\mathrm{m}^{2}}{\mathrm{~m}^{2}+1}$
  3. $\mathrm{m}^{2}=\frac{\mathrm{n}^{2}+1}{\mathrm{n}^{2}}$ or $\mathrm{n}^{2}=\frac{\mathrm{m}^{2}+1}{\mathrm{~m}^{2}}$
  4. $\mathrm{m}^{2}=\frac{\mathrm{n}^{2}-1}{\mathrm{n}^{2}}$ or $\mathrm{n}^{2}=\frac{\mathrm{m}^{2}-1}{\mathrm{~m}^{2}}$

Solution

The line is $y=-\frac{\text { nb }}{\text { ma }} x-n b$. It will touch the ellipse if $(-n b)^{2}=a^{2}\left(-\frac{n b}{m a}\right)^{2}+b^{2}$ $\left[\mathrm{c}^{2}=\mathrm{a}^{2} \mathrm{~m}^{2}+\mathrm{b}^{2}\right]$ $\Rightarrow n^{2}=\frac{n^{2}}{m^{2}}+1$ $\Rightarrow \mathrm{m}^{2}=\frac{\mathrm{n}^{2}}{\mathrm{n}^{2}-1}$ or $\mathrm{n}^{2}=\frac{\mathrm{m}^{2}}{\mathrm{~m}^{2}-1}$

Asked in: BITSAT 2020

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