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The length of the chord through one focus, perpendicular to the major axis, is called the latus rectum. One half of it is the semi-latus rectum. A calculation shows: [4] = = (). The semi-latus rectum is equal to the radius of curvature at the vertices (see section curvature).
where e is the eccentricity and l is the semi-latus rectum. As above, for e = 0, the graph is a circle, for 0 < e < 1 the graph is an ellipse, for e = 1 a parabola, and for e > 1 a hyperbola. The polar form of the equation of a conic is often used in dynamics; for instance, determining the orbits of objects revolving about the Sun. [20]
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 semi-minor axis b is related to the semi-major axis a through the eccentricity e and the semi-latus rectum, as follows:
A conic section with one focus on the pole and the other somewhere on the 0° ray (so that the conic's major axis lies along the polar axis) is given by: = where e is the eccentricity and is the semi-latus rectum (the perpendicular distance at a focus from the major axis to the curve).
The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the sun at one of the two foci. Kepler's first law placing the Sun at one of the foci of an elliptical orbit Heliocentric coordinate system (r, θ) for ellipse. Also shown are: semi-major axis a, semi-minor axis b and semi-latus rectum p; center of ellipse and its two foci marked by large
Consider the ellipse with equation given by: + =, where a is the semi-major axis and b is the semi-minor axis. For a point on the ellipse, P = P(x, y), representing the position of an orbiting body in an elliptical orbit, the eccentric anomaly is the angle E in the
The distance to the focal point is a function of the polar angle relative to the horizontal line as given by the equation In celestial mechanics , a Kepler orbit (or Keplerian orbit , named after the German astronomer Johannes Kepler ) is the motion of one body relative to another, as an ellipse , parabola , or hyperbola , which forms a two ...
The length of the chord through one of the foci, perpendicular to the major axis of the hyperbola, is called the latus rectum. One half of it is the semi-latus rectum. A calculation shows =. The semi-latus rectum may also be viewed as the radius of curvature at the vertices.