Conic Sections.

12 lessons114 min7 simulations

This chapter meets four curves that all come from slicing a double cone with a plane: the circle, the parabola, the ellipse and the hyperbola, together with the point, line and line-pair that appear when the plane passes through the vertex. Each curve is then defined as a set of points with a distance property, and that definition is turned into a standard equation with the vertex or centre at the origin. From the standard equations the chapter reads off foci, vertices, axes, eccentricity and the length of the latus rectum, and ends with mirrors, beams and a sliding rod.

Also called: parabola, ellipse and hyperbola · circles · conics