AQA Core 4 Parametric equations

Section 2: Parametric differentiation

Notes and Examples
These notes contain subsections on
Finding the gradient of a curve given by parametric equations
Finding the equation of the tangent and normal to a curve
Finding the turning points of a curve

Finding the gradient of a curve given by parametric equations

You can use the chain rule
dy dy dt

dx dt dx
dy
to find the gradient function,
, of a curve defined by parametric
dx
equations.
dt
The chain rule can be rewritten as
Multiplying by
is the
d
x
dy
dy
dx
dx
dt
, 0
same as dividing by
dx dx
dt
dt
dt
Dividing by 0
is undefined.

Example 1
A circle has the parametric equations x 2 5cos , y 4 5sin
Find the gradient of the circle at the point with parameter .
Solution

dx
5sin
d
dy
y 4 5sin
5cos
d
dy
dy
d
Using the chain rule
dx dx
d
dy
5 cos

dx 5 sin
dy cos

cot
So
dx
sin
x 2 5cos

You may also like to look at the Parametric differentiation video.

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AQA C4 Parametric equations 2 Notes and Examples

Finding the equation of the tangent and normal to a curve
dy
gives you the gradient of the tangent to the curve at the point with
dx
parameter t (or ).
You can then use y y1 m( x x1 ) to find the equation of the tangent.
Finding

The gradient of the normal is

perpendicular to each other.

1
since the tangent and normal are
dy
dx
1
mnormal
mtangent

Example 2
An ellipse is defined by the parametric equations x 4cos , y 2sin
(i) Find the equation of the tangent to the ellipse at the point with parameter .
(ii) Find the equation of the normal to the ellipse at the point (2, 3)
Solution
(i) First you need to find the gradient function of the curve
dx
x 4cos
4sin
d
dy
y 2sin
2cos
d
dy
dy
Using the chain rule
d
dx dx
d
dy 2cos

dx 4sin
dy cos

So
dx 2sin
Now use y y1 m( x x1 ) where x1 4cos , y1 2sin and m

cos
2sin

to find the equation of the tangent.

So:
Multiply both sides by 2sin :
Expanding the brackets:
Rearranging:

cos
( x 4cos )
2sin
2 y sin 4sin 2 cos ( x 4cos )
2 y sin 4sin 2 x cos 4cos2
2 y sin x cos 4cos2 4sin 2
y 2sin

Now cos2 sin 2 1 so 4cos2 4sin 2 4

So the equation of the tangent is 2 y sin x cos 4

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AQA C4 Parametric equations 2 Notes and Examples

(ii) We need to find the value of the parameter at the point (2, 3)
x 4 cos
Now the curve is
y 2sin
1
5
So solving
4cos 2 cos ,
2
3 3
3
2
and
2sin 3 sin
,
2
3 3

so the value of the parameter at (2, 3) is

3

mnormal

dy cos
The gradient of the tangent is
from part (a)

dx 2sin
2sin
So the gradient of the normal is
cos
When

the gradient of the normal is

3

mtangent

3 2 3 2 2
1
cos
2
3

2sin

Now use y y1 m( x x1 ) where x1 2 , y1 3 and m 2 3

to find the equation of the tangent.
So

y 3 2 3( x 2)

Expanding the brackets

y 3 2 3x 4 3

Simplifying

y 2 3x 3 3

Finding the turning points of a curve

dy
0.
dx
So to find the turning points
At a turning point

dy
dx

Find an expression for the gradient function

Put your expression equal to 0

Solve the equation to find the value of the parameter at the
turning point

You can identify the nature of any turning points by examining the sign of

dy
dx

just before and after the turning point. (It is best not to attempt the second
derivative method when using parametric coordinates, as this is quite
complicated).

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AQA C4 Parametric equations 2 Notes and Examples

dy
dx
+ve 0 -ve
Sign of

dy
dx
0 +ve

-ve

maximum

+ve

dy
dx
0 +ve

-ve

Sign of

Sign of

minimum

-ve

Point of inflection
Example 3
Find the turning points of the curve defined by the parametric equations
x t 1, y t 4 2t 3 and identify their nature.
Solution

dx
2
dt
dy
y t 4 2t 3
4t 3 6t
dt

x t 1

Using the chain rule

At a turning point
So

dy
dy
4t 3 6t
dt
2t 3 3t 2
dx dx
2
dt

dy
0.
dx
t 2 (2t 3) 0
t = 0 or t 32

So there are turning points at the points with parameters t = 0 or t

3
2

Substitute t = 0 and t 32 into the parametric equations x t 1, y t 4 2t 3 to find

the coordinates of the turning points:
At t = 0:
x = -1 and y = 0 (-1, 0) is a turning point
27
3
27
12 , 16
x 12 and y 16
At t 2 :
is a turning point
Now examine the sign of
At t = 0 x = -1

At t 32 x 12

dy
2t 3 3t 2 just before and after each turning point.
dx

Value of t
Value of x
dy
Sign of
dx

t 0.1
-1.01
-ve

Value of t
Value of x
dy
Sign of
dx

t 1.4
0.4
-ve

t 0
x 1
0

t 1.5
x 0.5
0

t 0.1
-0.99
-ve

t 1.6
0.6
+ve

So there is a point of inflection at (-1, 0) and a minimum at

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Check that you have

the points just before
and after x = -1

12 , 1627
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AQA C4 Parametric equations 2 Notes and Examples

For some interesting extension work, try finding and identifying the stationary
x t 2 1
points of the graph
. Then use a computer to sketch the graph. You
y t 4 2t 3
may be surprised by the result!

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