An ellipse has a important axis, and a minor axis. the important axis, is the longer axis, with length = 2a, the place 2a is likewise the sum of the distances from a element on the ellipse to each and all the foci. The minor axis, is the shorter axis, with length 2b, the place a^2 = c^2 + b^2. c is the scale from the middle of the ellipse to the two foci a is the scale from the middle of the ellipse to the vertices on the ellipse's important axis b is the scale from the middle of the ellipse to the vertices on the ellipse's minor axis the conventional equation for an ellipse are: (x - h)^2/a^2 + (y - ok)^2/b^2 = a million, the place (h, ok) is the middle, and the place the important axis is parallel to the x axis. and (x - h)^2/b^2 + (y - ok)^2/a^2 = a million, the place the important axis is parallel to the y axis. on your case, sixty 4 > 36, and because sixty 4 is below the x, then the important axis is parallel to the x axis. simply by fact the middle of your ellipse is (-a million, -a million), the line it particularly is parallel to the x axis and crosses the middle is given by making use of y = -a million. further, the minor axis is parallel to the y axis, and is given by making use of the equation x = -a million common words Your ellipse is two?sixty 4 huge and a pair of?36 tall. simply by fact this is wider than that's tall, then the important axis is horizontal, and the minor axis is vertical. the important and minor axes pass the ellipse at its vertices and its middle. to locate an equation for those axes, evaluate the middle, and set the two y = ok, if this is horizontal line, or x = h, if that's a vertical line.