A Centroid-Locked Chord

Problem

The parabola C ⁣:y2=2pxC \colon y^2 = 2px (p>0p > 0) has focus FF, and the point P(4,t)P(4, t) on CC (with t>0t > 0) is at distance 55 from FF.

1. Find pp and tt. 2. Let A,BA, B be points of CC such that the centroid of PAB\triangle PAB lies on the line y=43y = -\dfrac{4}{3}.

  1. Prove that the slope of line ABAB is constant.
  2. Let QQ be the intersection of line ABAB with the xx-axis, TT the midpoint of ABAB, and RR the midpoint of PQPQ. The perpendicular from PP to line TRTR has foot HH. Prove that HH moves on a fixed circle.

Answer

Solution

Difficulty8/10
TopicsMidpoint Chord Method, Parametrization, Circles, conic sections, analytic geometry

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