Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
An ellipse (red) obtained as the intersection of a cone with an inclined plane. Ellipse: notations Ellipses: examples with increasing eccentricity. In mathematics, an ellipse is a plane curve surrounding two focal points, such that for all points on the curve, the sum of the two distances to the focal points is a constant.
An ellipse has two axes and two foci Unlike most other elementary shapes, such as the circle and square , there is no algebraic equation to determine the perimeter of an ellipse . Throughout history, a large number of equations for approximations and estimates have been made for the perimeter of an ellipse.
For example, on a triaxial ellipsoid, the meridional eccentricity is that of the ellipse formed by a section containing both the longest and the shortest axes (one of which will be the polar axis), and the equatorial eccentricity is the eccentricity of the ellipse formed by a section through the centre, perpendicular to the polar axis (i.e. in ...
Simplifying the above formula using properties of R G, [5] this can also be expressed in terms of the volume of the ellipsoid V: = (,,). Unlike the expression with F(φ, k) and E(φ, k), the equations in terms of R G do not depend on the choice of an order on a, b, and c.
The semi-minor axis of an ellipse runs from the center of the ellipse (a point halfway between and on the line running between the foci) to the edge of the ellipse. The semi-minor axis is half of the minor axis. The minor axis is the longest line segment perpendicular to the major axis that connects two points on the ellipse's edge.
The equations in the Cartesian plane : + = = define, respectively, an ellipse and a hyperbola. In each case, the x and y axes are the principal axes. This is easily seen, given that there are no cross-terms involving products xy in either expression.
The classic applications of elliptic coordinates are in solving partial differential equations, e.g., Laplace's equation or the Helmholtz equation, for which elliptic coordinates are a natural description of a system thus allowing a separation of variables in the partial differential equations. Some traditional examples are solving systems such ...
A circle of radius a compressed to an ellipse. A sphere of radius a compressed to an oblate ellipsoid of revolution. Flattening is a measure of the compression of a circle or sphere along a diameter to form an ellipse or an ellipsoid of revolution respectively. Other terms used are ellipticity, or oblateness.