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In mathematics, a parabola is a plane curve which is mirror-symmetrical and is approximately U-shaped. It fits several superficially different mathematical descriptions, which can all be proved to define exactly the same curves. One description of a parabola involves a point (the focus) and a line (the directrix). The focus does not lie on the ...
A conic is the curve obtained as the intersection of a plane, called the cutting plane, with the surface of a double cone (a cone with two nappes).It is usually assumed that the cone is a right circular cone for the purpose of easy description, but this is not required; any double cone with some circular cross-section will suffice.
It is also possible to describe all conic sections in terms of a single focus and a single directrix, which is a given line not containing the focus. A conic is defined as the locus of points for each of which the distance to the focus divided by the distance to the directrix is a fixed positive constant, called the eccentricity e.
Any parabola can be transformed by a rigid motion (angles are not changed) into a parabola with equation =. The slope at a point of the parabola is m = 2 a x {\displaystyle m=2ax} . Replacing x gives the parametric representation of the parabola with the tangent slope as parameter: ( m 2 a , m 2 4 a ) . {\displaystyle \left({\tfrac {m}{2a ...
A parabolic segment is the region bounded by a parabola and line. To find the area of a parabolic segment, Archimedes considers a certain inscribed triangle. The base of this triangle is the given chord of the parabola, and the third vertex is the point on the parabola such that the tangent to the parabola at that point is parallel to the chord.
The scale factors for the parabolic coordinates (,) are equal = = + Hence, the infinitesimal element of area is = (+) and the Laplacian equals = + (+) Other differential operators such as and can be expressed in the coordinates (,) by substituting the scale factors into the general formulae found in orthogonal coordinates.
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A ballistic trajectory is a parabola with homogeneous acceleration, such as in a space ship with constant acceleration in absence of other forces. On Earth the acceleration changes magnitude with altitude as g ( y ) = g 0 / ( 1 + y / R ) 2 {\textstyle g(y)=g_{0}/(1+y/R)^{2}} and direction (faraway targets) with latitude/longitude along the ...