In the standard form of an ellipse, is a^2 always greater than b^2?

Answer 1

Greetings! Lets clarify this shall we ?

I would say it depends on if it is a vertical ellipse or a horizontal ellipse in standard form such that

Horizontal Ellipse => (x²/a²) + (y²/b²) = 1

Vertical Ellipse => (x²/b²) + (y²/a²) = 1

Meaning no matter if the ellipse is vertical or horizontal, a will always be the larger number.

I hope this helped!