[Math] Finding the equation of the normal line

algebra-precalculuscalculus

I have a question to find the equations of the tangent line and the normal line to the curve at the given point. I can find the equation for the tangent line easily but I am not sure what a normal line is and there is no example that I can find.

$y=x^4 + 2e^x$ at (0,2)

From that I do see that if I plug in 0 I get 2 as a result so my guess was that if I plug in another number I can use that to get the slope but it gave an incorrect answer.

Best Answer

You know that the tangent at the curve is given by

$$y_t = f(a)+f'(a)(x-a)$$

The normal would be a line such that

  • It also passes through $(a,f(a))$
  • It is perpendicular to $y_t$.

Given that a line that passes through $(X,Y)$ and has slope $m$ is given by

$$y-Y = m(x-X)$$

...and that two lines of slopes $n$ and $p$ are perpendicular if and only if $m\cdot n=-1$

Can you find $y_n$?


Given that a line that passes through $(X,Y)$ and has slope $m$ is given by

$$y-Y = m(x-X)$$

Give the equations to

  1. A line with slope $10$ that passes through $(0,1)$
  2. A line with slope $-5$ that passes through $(-3,3)$
  3. Given a line with slope $2$ that passes through the origin, find the equation to a line perpendicular to it that passes through $(5,2)$.
  4. Let $f(x) = x^4+2e^x$. Given the equation of the tangent to $f(x)$ at $(a,f(a))$. Find the normal to $f$ at the same point.