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Parabola. Part of a parabola (blue), with various features (other colours). The complete parabola has no endpoints. In this orientation, it extends infinitely to the left, right, and upward. 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 ...
The principal axis is the line joining the foci of an ellipse or hyperbola, and its midpoint is the curve's center. A parabola has no center. The linear eccentricity (c) is the distance between the center and a focus. The latus rectum is the chord parallel to the directrix and passing through a focus; its half-length is the semi-latus rectum (ℓ).
Paraboloid. In geometry, a paraboloid is a quadric surface that has exactly one axis of symmetry and no center of symmetry. The term "paraboloid" is derived from parabola, which refers to a conic section that has a similar property of symmetry. Every plane section of a paraboloid by a plane parallel to the axis of symmetry is a parabola.
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 ...
Quadratic function. In mathematics, a quadratic function of a single variable is a function of the form [1] where is its variable, and , , and are coefficients. The expression , especially when treated as an object in itself rather than as a function, is a quadratic polynomial, a polynomial of degree two.
Focus (geometry) Geometric point from which certain types of curves are constructed. Point F is a focus point for the red ellipse, green parabola and blue hyperbola. In geometry, focuses or foci (/ ˈfoʊkaɪ /; sg.: focus) are special points with reference to which any of a variety of curves is constructed. For example, one or two foci can be ...
In mathematics and physics, the centroid, also known as geometric center or center of figure, of a plane figure or solid figure is the arithmetic mean position of all the points in the surface of the figure. [further explanation needed] The same definition extends to any object in - dimensional Euclidean space. [1]
In geometry, the Dandelin spheres are one or two spheres that are tangent both to a plane and to a cone that intersects the plane. The intersection of the cone and the plane is a conic section, and the point at which either sphere touches the plane is a focus of the conic section, so the Dandelin spheres are also sometimes called focal spheres.