Ellipse

An ellipse is a curve that is the locus of all points in the plane the sum of whose distances points and (the foci) separated by a distance of is a given positive constant

and

from two fixed

(Hilbert and Cohn-Vossen

1999, p. 2). This results in the two-center bipolar coordinate equation

(1)

where

is the semimajor axis and the origin of the coordinate system is at one of the foci. The corresponding is known as the semiminor axis.

parameter

The ellipse is a conic section and a Lissajous curve. An ellipse can be specified in Mathematica using Circle[ x, y , a, b ].

If the endpoints of a segment are moved along two intersecting lines, a fixed point on the segment (or on the line that prolongs it) describes an arc of an ellipse. This is known as the trammel construction of an ellipse (Eves 1965, p. 177).

It is possible to construct elliptical gears that rotate smoothly against one another (Brown 1871, pp. 14-15; Reuleaux and Kennedy 1876, p. 70; Clark and Downward 1930; KMODDL).

The ellipse was first studied by Menaechmus, investigated by Euclid, and named by Apollonius. The focus and conic section directrix of an ellipse were considered by Pappus. In 1602, Kepler believed that the orbit of Mars was oval; he later discovered that it was an ellipse with the Sun at one focus. In fact, Kepler introduced the word "focus" and published his discovery in 1609. In 1705 Halley showed that the comet now named after him moved in an elliptical orbit around the Sun (MacTutor Archive). An ellipse rotated about its minor axis gives an oblate spheroid, while an ellipse rotated about its major axis gives a prolate spheroid.

A ray of light passing through a focus will pass through the other focus after a single bounce (Hilbert and CohnVossen 1999, p. 3). Reflections not passing through a focus will be tangent to a confocal hyperbola or ellipse, depending on whether the ray passes between the foci or not.

Let an ellipse lie along the x-axis and find the equation of the figure (1) where Cartesian coordinates,

and

are at

and

. In

(2)

Bring the second term to the right side and square both sides,

(3)

Now solve for the square root term and simplify

(4 ) (5 ) (6 )

Square one final time to clear the remaining square root,

(7)

Grouping the

terms then gives

(8)

which can be written in the simple form

(9)

Defining a new constant

(10)

puts the equation in the particularly simple form

(11)

The parameter (assuming

is called the semiminor axis by analogy with the parameter ). The fact that

, which is called the semimajor axis and

as defined above is actually the semiminor axis is easily shown by letting

be equal. Then two right triangles are produced, each with hypotenuse the largest distance along the minor axis will be achieved at this point,

, base , and height is indeed the semiminor axis.

. Since

If, instead of being centered at (0, 0), the center of the ellipse is at (

), equation () becomes

(12)

As can be seen from the Cartesian equation for the ellipse, the curve can also be given by a simple parametric form analogous to that of a circle, but with the and coordinates having different scalings,

(13) (14)

The general quadratic curve

(15)

is an ellipse when, after defining

(16)

(17) (18)

, and

. Also assume the ellipse is nondegenerate (i.e., it is not a circle, so ). In that case, the center of the ellipse

, and we have is given by

already established is not a point, since

(19) (20)

the semi-axes lengths are

(21)

(22)

and the counterclockwise angle of rotation from the

-axis to the major axis of the ellipse is

(23)

The ellipse can also be defined as the locus of points whose distance from the focus is proportional to the horizontal distance from a vertical line known as the conic section directrix, where the ratio is . Letting be the ratio and

the distance from the center at which the directrix lies, then in order for this to be true, it must hold at the extremes of the major and minor axes, so

(24)

Solving gives

(25)

(26)

The focal parameter of the ellipse is

(27)

(28) (29)

where is a characteristic of the ellipse known as the eccentricity, to be defined shortly.

An ellipse whose axes are parallel to the coordinate axes is uniquely determined by any four non-concyclic points on it, and the ellipse passing through the four points , , , and has equation

(30)

Let four points on an ellipse with axes parallel to the coordinate axes have angular coordinates 4. Such points are concyclic when

for

, 2, 3, and

(31)

where the intermediate variable

has been defined (Berger et al. 1984; Trott 2006, pp. 39-40). Rather is now interpreted as .

surprisingly, this same relationship results after simplification of the above where An equivalent, but more complicated, condition is given by

(3 2)

Like hyperbolas, noncircular ellipses have two distinct foci and two associated directrices, each conic section directrix being perpendicular to the line joining the two foci (Eves 1965, p. 275).

Define a new constant

called the eccentricity (where

is the case of a circle) to replace

(33)

from which it follows that

(34) (35) (36) (37) (38)

(39)

The eccentricity can therefore be interpreted as the position of the focus as a fraction of the semimajor axis.

Hyperbola

A hyperbola (plural "hyperbolas"; Gray 1997, p. 45) is a conic section defined as the locus of all points the difference of whose distances a distance is a given positive constant , and from two fixed points (the foci and

in the plane

) separated by

(1)

(Hilbert and Cohn-Vossen 1999, p. 3). Letting

fall on the left

-intercept requires that

(2)

so the constant is given by

, i.e., the distance between the

-intercepts (left figure above). The hyperbola has

the important property that a ray originating at a focus

reflects in such a way that the outgoing path lies along the

line from the other focus through the point of intersection (right figure above).

The special case of the rectangular hyperbola, corresponding to a hyperbola with eccentricity

, was first

studied by Menaechmus. Euclid and Aristaeus wrote about the general hyperbola, but only studied one branch of it. The hyperbola was given its present name by Apollonius, who was the first to study both branches. The focus and conic section directrix were considered by Pappus (MacTutor Archive). The hyperbola is the shape of an orbit of a body on an escape trajectory (i.e., a body with positive energy), such as some comets, about a fixed mass, such as the sun.

The hyperbola can be constructed by connecting the free end other focus with a string . As the bar

of a rigid bar and

, where

is a focus, and the

is rotated about

is kept taut against the bar (i.e., lies on

the bar), the locus of

is one branch of a hyperbola (left figure above; Wells 1991). A theorem of Apollonius states and intersecting the asymptotes at points and , then

that for a line segment tangent to the hyperbola at a point is constant, and

(right figure above; Wells 1991).

Let the point gives

on the hyperbola have Cartesian coordinates

, then the definition of the hyperbola

(3)

Rearranging and completing the square gives

(4)

and dividing both sides by

results in

(5)

By analogy with the definition of the ellipse, define

(6)

so the equation for a hyperbola with semimajor axis is given by

parallel to the x-axis and semiminor axis

parallel to the y-axis

(7)

or, for a center at the point

instead of

(8)

Unlike the ellipse, no points of the hyperbola actually lie on the semiminor axis, but rather the ratio the vertical scaling of the hyperbola. The eccentricity of the hyperbola (which always satisfies as

determines ) is then defined

(9)

In the standard equation of the hyperbola, the center is located at vertices are at

, the foci are at

, and the

. The so-called asymptotes (shown as the dashed lines in the above figures) can be found

by substituting 0 for the 1 on the right side of the general equation (8),

(10)

and therefore have slopes

The special case perpendicular.

(the left diagram above) is known as a rectangular hyperbola because the asymptotes are

The hyperbola can also be defined as the locus of points whose distance from the focus horizontal distance from a vertical line ratio and

is proportional to the . Letting be the

known as the conic section directrix, where the ratio is

the distance from the center at which the directrix lies, then

(11) (12)

where is therefore simply the eccentricity .

Like noncircular ellipses, hyperbolas have two distinct foci and two associated conic section directrices, each conic section directrix being perpendicular to the line joining the two foci (Eves 1965, p. 275).

The focal parameter of the hyperbola is

(13)

(14)

(15)

In polar coordinates, the equation of a hyperbola centered at the origin (i.e., with

) is

(16)

In polar coordinates centered at a focus,

(17)

as illustrated above.

The two-center bipolar coordinates equation with origin at a focus is

(18)

Parametric equations for the right branch of a hyperbola are given by

(19) (20)

where hyperbola.

is the hyperbolic cosine and

is the hyperbolic sine, which ranges over the right branch of the

A parametric representation which ranges over both branches of the hyperbola is

(21)

(22)

with

and discontinuities at

The arc length, curvature, and tangential angle for the above parametrization are

(23)

(24) (25)

where

is an elliptic integral of the second kind.

The locus of the apex of a variable cone containing an ellipse fixed in three-space is a hyperbola through the foci of the ellipse. In addition, the locus of the apex of a cone containing that hyperbola is the original ellipse. Furthermore, the eccentricities of the ellipse and hyperbola are reciprocals.