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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 section, conic or a quadratic curve is a curve obtained from a cone's surface intersecting a plane. The three types of conic section are the hyperbola , the parabola , and the ellipse ; the circle is a special case of the ellipse, though it was sometimes considered a fourth type.
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 ...
The parabolic series nose shape is generated by rotating a segment of a parabola around a line parallel to its latus rectum. This construction is similar to that of the tangent ogive, except that a parabola is the defining shape rather than a circle. Just as it does on an ogive, this construction produces a nose shape with a sharp tip.
In physics, a characteristic length is an important dimension that defines the scale of a physical system. Often, such a length is used as an input to a formula in order to predict some characteristics of the system, and it is usually required by the construction of a dimensionless quantity, in the general framework of dimensional analysis and in particular applications such as fluid mechanics.
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.
In mathematics, the method of characteristics is a technique for solving partial differential equations. Typically, it applies to first-order equations , though in general characteristic curves can also be found for hyperbolic and parabolic partial differential equation .
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.