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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:
Mathematically, an ellipse can be represented by the formula: r = p 1 + ε cos θ , {\displaystyle r={\frac {p}{1+\varepsilon \,\cos \theta }},} where p {\displaystyle p} is the semi-latus rectum , ε is the eccentricity of the ellipse, r is the distance from the Sun to the planet, and θ is the angle to the planet's current position from ...
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.
The latus rectum is defined similarly for the other two conics – the ellipse and the hyperbola. The latus rectum is the line drawn through a focus of a conic section parallel to the directrix and terminated both ways by the curve. For any case, is the radius of the osculating circle at the vertex. For a parabola, the semi-latus rectum, , is ...
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).