y² = x³ + ax + b, over ℚ

Rational Points

Pick a curve, search for rational points, then click two of them to watch the chord-and-tangent group law add them together — with exact fraction arithmetic, no rounding.

The curve

Weierstrass form, coefficients may be integers or fractions like -3/4.

y² = x³ + 0x + 17
smooth curve

Curve & points

Real locus over ℝ, with every rational point found so far.

drag to pan · scroll to zoom · dbl-click to zoom in
found point result of an addition multiple of P construction line

Rational points

Search to populate this list.

no points yet
Select one or two points below to add them.

Multiples of a point

Pick a point P from the list, then compute P, 2P, 3P, … up to nP by repeated addition.

How does point addition work?

Three points on a Weierstrass curve that lie on a common line always sum to the identity, the point at infinity 𝒪. So to add P and Q: draw the line through them, find the third point R′ where it crosses the curve, then reflect R′ over the x-axis to get P + Q. To double a point P, use the tangent line at P instead of a secant.

This gives the curve's points the structure of an abelian group. Coordinates are kept as exact fractions throughout (via JavaScript BigInt), so results are never rounded — only the plot is drawn in floating point.

The point search only checks x = p/q with |p| and q bounded by the numerator range and max denominator above, so it can miss rational points with larger height — it is a demonstration, not a complete search.