Literal Equations

Equations with several variables (letters) are called Literal Equations. A Literal Equations differs from other equations because here we are not solving for a specific value for a specific variable. Literal equations are usually formulas that are used in some type of application. For example, area, force, volume, and distance formulas can all be a starting point of a literal equation.

An ellipse is a plane curve that results from the intersection of a cone by a plane in a way that produces a closed curve.

Literal Equations are what are commonly referred to as formulas, or formulae. They are recipes for finding the numeric value of a variable, assigned a "letter" name (hence "literal") that typically stands for some sort of real-world quantity, such as Volume, Temperature, Pressure, amount of interest an investment earned, and so on.

An ellipse equation is a plane curve that results from the intersection of a cone by a plane in a way that produces a closed curve. An ellipse is the set of all points in a plane such that the sum of the distances from T to two fixed points F₁ and F₂ is a given constant, K.

TF₁ + TF₂ = K

Equation of ellipse in standard form

[ x²/a² ] + [ y²/b² ] = 1

In the next section we will speak about Simultaneous Equations.