How can I plot this implicit function: $y^2=\dfrac{x^3}{a-x}$
Should I use a polar coordinate transformation?
How can I plot this implicit function: $y^2=\dfrac{x^3}{a-x}$
Should I use a polar coordinate transformation?
This is another command via Maple for doing that plot for any certain value of $a$:
$[>$ with(plots):
$[>$ implicitplot({seq($x^3/(a-x)-y^2 = 0$, $a = 1 .. 14$)}, $x = 0 .. 10, y = -20 .. 20$, numpoints $= 20000$);
Above I chose $a=14$, you can choose it $40$. :)
You can just rewrite it as $y = \pm \sqrt{\dfrac{x^3}{a-x}}$ and plot the positive and negative branches of that (which will be just mirror images of each other). Here's a quick example I did in Maple, with $a = 1$:
Note that, as the plot shows, your equation only has real solutions in the range $0 \le x < a$ (or $a < x \le 0$ if $a < 0$). Outside that range, $\frac{x^3}{a-x}$ will be negative (or undefined, for $x = a$), so $y$ would need to be imaginary.
In principle, you could also solve the original equation for $x$ as a function of $y$ and plot that. However, that entails solving the cubic polynomial $x^3+y^2x-y^2a=0$, and while there are straightforward methods for doing that, the result will not be particularly pretty.