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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 parabolic antenna is an antenna that uses a parabolic reflector, a curved surface with the cross-sectional shape of a parabola, to direct the radio waves. The most common form is shaped like a dish and is popularly called a dish antenna or parabolic dish. The main advantage of a parabolic antenna is that it has high directivity.
A parabola may also be defined in terms of its focus and latus rectum line (parallel to the directrix and passing through the focus): it is the locus of points whose distance to the focus plus or minus the distance to the line is equal to 2a; plus if the point is between the directrix and the latus rectum, minus otherwise.
These characteristics are also known as I–V curves, referring to the standard symbols for current and voltage. In electronic components with more than two terminals, such as vacuum tubes and transistors, the current–voltage relationship at one pair of terminals may depend on the current or voltage on a third terminal. This is usually ...
In this position, the hyperbolic paraboloid opens downward along the x-axis and upward along the y-axis (that is, the parabola in the plane x = 0 opens upward and the parabola in the plane y = 0 opens downward). Any paraboloid (elliptic or hyperbolic) is a translation surface, as it can be generated by a moving parabola directed by a second ...
A family of conic sections of varying eccentricity share a focus point and directrix line, including an ellipse (red, e = 1/2), a parabola (green, e = 1), and a hyperbola (blue, e = 2). The conic of eccentricity 0 in this figure is an infinitesimal circle centered at the focus, and the conic of eccentricity ∞ is an infinitesimally separated ...
A parabolic partial differential equation is a type of partial differential equation (PDE). Parabolic PDEs are used to describe a wide variety of time-dependent phenomena in, i.a., engineering science, quantum mechanics and financial mathematics.
Regardless of the format, the graph of a univariate quadratic function () = + + is a parabola (as shown at the right). Equivalently, this is the graph of the bivariate quadratic equation = + +. If a > 0, the parabola opens upwards. If a < 0, the parabola opens downwards.