A communications satellite is to be put into an elliptical orbit around the earth so that the earth is at one focus. The maximum and minimum distances of the satellite from the earth occur at the vertices of the ellipse. The maximum distance is 20 miles and the minimum distance is 15 miles. Determine an equation of the elliptical orbit of the satellite if the center of the orbit is at the origin of the coordinate plane.

College Algebra (MindTap Course List)
12th Edition
ISBN:9781305652231
Author:R. David Gustafson, Jeff Hughes
Publisher:R. David Gustafson, Jeff Hughes
Chapter7: Conic Sections And Quadratic Systems
Section7.2: The Ellipse
Problem 70E
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A communications satellite is to be put into an elliptical orbit around the earth so that the earth is at one focus. The maximum and minimum distances of the satellite from the earth occur at the vertices of the ellipse. The maximum distance is 20 miles and the minimum distance is 15 miles. Determine an equation of the elliptical orbit of the satellite if the center of the orbit is at the origin of the coordinate plane.

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