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Asymptotes of a Hyperbola

The asymptotes of a hyperbola are intersecting straight lines that the branches of the graph approach as the values of xx and yy get larger and larger, but never actually intersect. For a hyperbola centered at the origin, (0,0)(0, 0), the asymptotes correspond to the extended diagonals of a central rectangle. When the transverse axis is on the xx-axis, the rectangle's sides intersect at the vertices (±a,0)(\pm a, 0) and at (0,±b)(0, \pm b), giving the asymptote equations y=baxy = \frac{b}{a}x and y=baxy = -\frac{b}{a}x. When the transverse axis is on the yy-axis, the rectangle's sides intersect at the vertices (0,±a)(0, \pm a) and at (±b,0)(\pm b, 0), giving the asymptote equations y=abxy = \frac{a}{b}x and y=abxy = -\frac{a}{b}x.

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Updated 2026-05-25

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