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the eccentricity can be written as a function of the coefficients of the quadratic equation. [18] If 4AC = B 2 the conic is a parabola and its eccentricity equals 1 (provided it is non-degenerate). Otherwise, assuming the equation represents either a non-degenerate hyperbola or ellipse, the eccentricity is given by
The equation is for an ellipse, since both eigenvalues are positive. (Otherwise, if one were positive and the other negative, it would be a hyperbola.) The principal axes are the lines spanned by the eigenvectors. The minimum and maximum distances to the origin can be read off the equation in diagonal form.
This is the equation of an ellipse (<) or a parabola (=) or a hyperbola (>). All of these non-degenerate conics have, in common, the origin as a vertex (see diagram). All of these non-degenerate conics have, in common, the origin as a vertex (see diagram).
(The parabolas are orthogonal for an analogous reason to confocal ellipses and hyperbolas: parabolas have a reflective property.) Analogous to confocal ellipses and hyperbolas, the plane can be covered by an orthogonal net of parabolas, which can be used for a parabolic coordinate system .
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 parabola, being tangent to the line at infinity, would have its center being a point on the line at infinity. Hyperbolas intersect the line at infinity in two distinct points and the polar lines of these points are the asymptotes of the hyperbola and are the tangent lines to the hyperbola at these points of infinity.
The semi-minor axis of an ellipse runs from the center of the ellipse (a point halfway between and on the line running between the foci) to the edge of the ellipse. 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 vertices of the hyperbola are the foci of the ellipse and its foci are the vertices of the ellipse (see diagram). or two parabolas, which are contained in two orthogonal planes and the vertex of one parabola is the focus of the other and vice versa. Focal conics play an essential role answering the question: "Which right circular cones ...