MAT200
Franklin College
Erich Prisner

Writing Project 8:

Minimizing a triangle area

Look at the curve x2 + 3y2 = 1. In the first quadrant draw different tangent lines to points of the curve. These tangent lines form triangles with x- and y- axes. For which point on the curve is the area of this triangle minimized?

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Erich Prisner, August 2003