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Any conic section can be defined as the locus of points whose distances to a point (the focus) and a line (the directrix) are in a constant ratio. That ratio is called the eccentricity, commonly denoted as e. The eccentricity can also be defined in terms of the intersection of a plane and a double-napped cone associated with the conic section.
The ellipse thus generated has its second focus at the center of the directrix circle, and the ellipse lies entirely within the circle. For the parabola, the center of the directrix moves to the point at infinity (see Projective geometry). The directrix "circle" becomes a curve with zero curvature, indistinguishable from a straight line.
describes a right circular conoid with the unit circle of the x-y-plane as directrix and a directrix plane, which is parallel to the y--z-plane. Its axis is the line (,,) . Special features: The intersection with a horizontal plane is an ellipse.
In geometry, a surface S in 3-dimensional Euclidean space is ruled (also called a scroll) if through every point of S, there is a straight line that lies on S. Examples include the plane , the lateral surface of a cylinder or cone , a conical surface with elliptical directrix , the right conoid , the helicoid , and the tangent developable of a ...
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]
In the theory of quadratic forms, the parabola is the graph of the quadratic form x 2 (or other scalings), while the elliptic paraboloid is the graph of the positive-definite quadratic form x 2 + y 2 (or scalings), and the hyperbolic paraboloid is the graph of the indefinite quadratic form x 2 − y 2. Generalizations to more variables yield ...
In mathematics, a directrix is a curve associated with a process generating a geometric object, such as: Directrix (conic section) Directrix (generatrix)
The directrix of a conic section can be found using Dandelin's construction. Each Dandelin sphere intersects the cone at a circle; let both of these circles define their own planes. The intersections of these two parallel planes with the conic section's plane will be two parallel lines; these lines are the directrices of the conic section.