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The parabola is a member of the family of conic sections. 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.
The coefficient a is the same value in all three forms. To convert the standard form to factored form, one needs only the quadratic formula to determine the two roots r 1 and r 2. To convert the standard form to vertex form, one needs a process called completing the square. To convert the factored form (or vertex form) to standard form, one ...
An illustration of various conic constants. In geometry, the conic constant (or Schwarzschild constant, [1] after Karl Schwarzschild) is a quantity describing conic sections, and is represented by the letter K.
The numbers a, b, and c are the coefficients of the equation and may be distinguished by respectively calling them, the quadratic coefficient, the linear coefficient and the constant coefficient or free term. [2] The values of x that satisfy the equation are called solutions of the equation, and roots or zeros of the quadratic function on its ...
[29] [30] His solution of the quadratic equation + = was as follows: "To the absolute number multiplied by four times the [coefficient of the] square, add the square of the [coefficient of the] middle term; the square root of the same, less the [coefficient of the] middle term, being divided by twice the [coefficient of the] square is ...
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 ...
The universal parabolic constant is the red length divided by the green length. The universal parabolic constant is a mathematical constant.. It is defined as the ratio, for any parabola, of the arc length of the parabolic segment formed by the latus rectum to the focal parameter.
In Euclidean and projective geometry, five points determine a conic (a degree-2 plane curve), just as two (distinct) points determine a line (a degree-1 plane curve).There are additional subtleties for conics that do not exist for lines, and thus the statement and its proof for conics are both more technical than for lines.