Design of a Satellite Dish

Intermediate Algebra Worth 10 points In this assignment you will use Geometers Sketchpad software to demonstrate why modern satellite dishes are made with a parabolic shape instead of the spherical shape that older satellite dishes had. You will then determine the equations of different antenna dishes. Geometers Sketchpad software is available on the AMES network. Go to the Student Share drive, look in the Geometry folder, and click on the GSP icon.

Once youve started up Geometers Sketchpad software, do the following 1) Use the point tool to draw a point near the middle of the screen. Change to the A tool, double click on the point you just made, and label that point as the Focus. 2) Use the line tool to draw a horizontal line beneath the point you just created, as shown in the picture here. Change to the A tool, double click on the line you just made, and label this line as the Directrix. Now youre ready to draw a parabola. A parabola is defined in geometry terms as a shape where all the points on the curve are the same distance from the Directrix line as they are from the Focus point. To find where all these points are located, do the following. 3) Use the line segment tool to draw a line segment that goes from the focus point to the Directrix. It is important for the endpoint of the new line segment to attach onto the Directrix line, so make sure that the Directrix line changes color when the mouse moves over it before you click the mouse to define the endpoint of the line segment. It doesnt matter where on the Directrix line you put the endpoint of the line segment, as long as it is somewhere on the Directrix line. Label this endpoint B. 4) Using the select tool, click on the new line segment and use the Construct option to create a midpoint of that line segment. Label this point C 5) With the line segment and the midpoint highlighted, use the Construct option to create a line that is perpendicular to the line segment and which passes through midpoint C.

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6) Using the select tool, click on the Directrix line and then click on point B to highlight them both. Then use the Construct option to create a line that is perpendicular to the Directrix and which passes through point B. Use the point tool to define a new point at the place where this new line intersects the line you created in step 5. Make sure that this point gets attached to both of the lines that intersect together there. Label this point as the Equidistant Point. You should now have a sketch that looks similar to the one shown below.

The reason we label this point the Equidistant Point is because it will always be the same distance from the Directrix line as it is from the focus point regardless of where B might be located on the Directrix line. (If you doubt this go back and review the Perpendicular Bisector Theorem in your old Geometry book.) Click on point B and hold the mouse button down while you move the mouse back and forth. You will see that the Equidistant Point will move as you do that but it will always be the same distance from the Directrix line as it is from the Focus Point. As it moves, it will trace out the shape of a parabola. In order to see that shape better, do the following steps.

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7) Select the Equidistant Point and then use the Display option to turn on the softwares Trace capability. 8) Select point B and drag it back and forth along the Directrix line. Notice what happens to the Equidistant Point. As it moves it will always be exactly the same distance from the focus point as it is from the Directrix line. The softwares trace function will leave a trail of points as it the equidistant point moves. The shape of the trail will be a parabola. 9) Click in some blank area in order to de-select point B and then select the Equidistant Point. Use the Display option to turn off the trace feature and also to erase the old trace trail. 10) Select both point B and the Equidistant Point and then use the Construct option to display the Locus. A locus is the same as what the trail of trace points was, except that it will change in real time as we change other parts of the drawing as you will see below. 11) Experiment to see what happens when you drag the focus point to different places on the screen and also as you drag the Directrix line to different places in the screen. The Equidistant Point will always be the same distance from the Directrix line as it is from the Focus Point, and so will every other point that lies on the locus curve. The locus will always be a parabola, but the steepness and the direction of the parabola will change as you change the focus point and Directrix line. QUESTIONS: What happens to the parabola when the focus moves closer to the Directrix? What happens when it moves further away from the Directrix? What happens when the Directrix line is tilted?

In order to get the first 5 points of extra credit for this assignment, you need to create a parabola on one of the computers in the math pod. Then show it to me so that I can verify that everything was constructed properly.

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Why a parabola is the best shape for a satellite dish

When satellite signals reflect off a surface, the angle of the reflected signal (the ray leaving the surface) is always the same as the angle of the incident signal (the ray hitting the surface). If the surface is shaped like a parabola, any signal hitting any place on the dish will always be reflected to the focus point, as long as the dish is pointed in the direction of the satellite. The Geometers Sketchpad drawing below illustrates why this is true. It is not difficult to prove why it has to be true. If you write up a geometric proof of why this is true, you can get an additional 5 bonus points, over and above what you get for doing the rest of this assignment.

c In om g in e gl An

Incoming Satellite Signal

Reflected Satellite Signal

ed ct fle Re

t en ng Ta ne Li

Focus Point
e gl An

Directrix

Finally.. In order to get the rest of the credit for this assignment, read Section 10.1 in your Algebra 2 book (paying special attention to Example 3 on page 597) and then do problems 78 and 81, on page 599.

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