A system for tracking ships indicated that a ship lies on a hyperbolic path described by 5x2 - y2 = 20. the process is repeated
and the ship is found to lie on a hyperbolic path described by y2 - 2x2 = 7. if it is known that the ship is located in the first quadrant of the coordinate system, determine its exact location.
Explanation: In the first test, the equation of the position was: 5x² - y² = 20 ...........> equation I In the second test, the equation of the position was: y² - 2x² = 7 ..............> equation II This equation can be rewritten as: y² = 2x² + 7 ............> equation III
Since the ship did not move in the duration between the two tests, therefore, the position of the ship is the same in the two tests which means that: equation I = equation II
To get the position of the ship, we will simply need to solve equation I and equation II simultaneously and get their solution.
Substitute with equation III in equation I to solve for x as follows: 5x²-y² = 20 5x² - (2x²+7) = 20 5x² - 2y² - 7 = 20 3x² = 27 x² = 9 x = <span>± </span>√9
We are given that the ship lies in the first quadrant. This means that both its x and y coordinates are positive. This means that: x = √9 = 3
Substitute with x in equation III to get y as follows: y² = 2x² + 7 y² = 2(3)² + 7 y = 18 + 7 y = 25 y = +√25 y = 5
Based on the above, the position of the ship is (3,5).
