Find the orthogonal trajectories of family of the circle x2+y2=a2 where a is a parameter

To find the orthogonal trajectories of a given family of curves, we need to find equations of curves that intersect the given curves at a right angle.

We start by considering the family of circles given by the equation x^2 + y^2 = a^2, where a is a parameter. Let's first differentiate this equation with respect to x:

2x + 2yy' = 0.

Now, we solve this equation for y':

y' = -x/y.

To find the equations of the orthogonal trajectories, we need to find curves with slopes that are negative reciprocals of -x/y. So, the slope of the orthogonal trajectories at any point (x, y) will be given by m = y/x.

Let's differentiate y = f(x) with respect to x to obtain y':

y' = f'(x).

We can now set y' = y/x:

f'(x) = y/x.

Next, we want to eliminate x and y from this equation. We can do that by multiplying both sides of the equation by x:

x * f'(x) = y.

This equation represents the orthogonal trajectories of the given family of circles x^2 + y^2 = a^2.

To summarize, the orthogonal trajectories of the family of circles x^2 + y^2 = a^2 are given by the equation x * f'(x) = y, where f'(x) represents the derivative of the function f(x) defining the orthogonal trajectory.

To find the orthogonal trajectories of the family of circles given by the equation x^2 + y^2 = a^2, we can use the concept of orthogonal gradients.

First, let's find the gradient of the circles' family.

Differentiating both sides of the equation x^2 + y^2 = a^2 with respect to x, we get:

2x + 2y(dy/dx) = 0

Now, let's solve this equation for dy/dx:

dy/dx = -x/y

The gradient of the family of circles is given by -x/y.

To find the orthogonal trajectories, we need to find the negative reciprocal of -x/y, which is y/x.

Therefore, the differential equation for the orthogonal trajectories is dy/dx = y/x.

To solve this differential equation, let's rewrite it in a separable form:

dy/y = dx/x

Integrating both sides, we get:

ln|y| = ln|x| + C

Using properties of logarithms, this can be simplified to:

ln|y| - ln|x| = ln|x/y| = C

Exponentiating both sides, we have:

|x/y| = e^C

Since e^C is a positive constant, we can remove the absolute value signs and simplify it to:

|x/y| = k

where k is the constant of integration.

To find the equation of the orthogonal trajectories, we can rearrange this equation as follows:

x^2 = k * y^2

This equation represents a family of hyperbolas centered at the origin, with the constant k determining the shape of the hyperbolas.

Therefore, the orthogonal trajectories of the family of circles x^2 + y^2 = a^2 are given by the equation x^2 = k * y^2, where k is a constant.

Haven't done this kind of question in over 55 years, had to look it up

try this:
http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/315317/orthogonal-trajectories-for-a-given-family-of-curves