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In geometry and linear algebra, a principal axis is a certain line in a Euclidean space associated with a ellipsoid or hyperboloid, generalizing the major and minor axes of an ellipse or hyperbola. The principal axis theorem states that the principal axes are perpendicular , and gives a constructive procedure for finding them.
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 semi ...
At first the measure is available only for chords which are not parallel to the y-axis. But the final formula works for any chord. The proof follows from a straightforward calculation. For the direction of proof given that the points are on an ellipse, one can assume that the center of the ellipse is the origin.
Hence, it is confocal to the given ellipse and the length of the string is l = 2r x + (a − c). Solving for r x yields r x = 1 / 2 (l − a + c); furthermore r 2 y = r 2 x − c 2. From the upper diagram we see that S 1 and S 2 are the foci of the ellipse section of the ellipsoid in the xz-plane and that r 2 z = r 2 x − a 2.
For example, on a triaxial ellipsoid, the meridional eccentricity is that of the ellipse formed by a section containing both the longest and the shortest axes (one of which will be the polar axis), and the equatorial eccentricity is the eccentricity of the ellipse formed by a section through the centre, perpendicular to the polar axis (i.e. in ...
If one surrounds a given ellipse E by a closed string, which is longer than the given ellipse's circumference, and draws a curve similar to the gardener's construction of an ellipse (see diagram), then one gets an ellipse, that is confocal to E. The proof of this theorem uses elliptical integrals and is contained in Klein's book.
For a rectangular or equilateral hyperbola, one whose asymptotes are perpendicular, there is an alternative standard form in which the asymptotes are the coordinate axes and the line x = y is the principal axis. The foci then have coordinates (c, c) and (−c, −c). [9] Circle: + =, Ellipse:
In elliptic geometry, two lines perpendicular to a given line must intersect. In fact, all perpendiculars to a given line intersect at a single point called the absolute pole of that line. Every point corresponds to an absolute polar line of which it is the absolute pole. Any point on this polar line forms an absolute conjugate pair with the pole.