Conic Sections

Degenerate Conic
Sections

A general equation
represents all conic
sections.

The quadratic form is

which can be rewritten as a product of
three matrices:

The conic section is degenerate if and

only if the determinant of the middle
matrix is 0.

Rotate and translate any conic

section to get its standard
Cartesian equation.
From the Cartesian equation,

translate a focus to the origin and

convert to polar coordinates to
get where e is the eccentricity
and d is the distance from the
focus to its directrix.

Parabola
Locus of points in theplaneequidistant
from a givenline(the directrix) and a
given pointnot on the line (the focus).

Parametrizatio
n

Ellipse
Locus of points such that the sum
of the distances from two given
points (foci) is constant.
Semi-minor
axis

Semi-major
axis

Parametrizatio
n

Minor axis

Hyperbola
Locus of points such that the
difference between the distances
from two given points (foci) is

constant.
Parametrizatio

Major axis

Directrix and Eccentricity

A non-circular conic consists of the locus of

points whose distance to some point (focus)

over distance to some line (directrix) are in a
fixed ratio (eccentricity).
Eccentricity is

Latus Rectum ()
The latus rectum of a conic section is the chord
through a focus parallel to the conic section
directrix.

Application-orbits of planets
Keplers Laws
1. A planet revolves around the sun in
an elliptical orbit with the sun at one
focus.
2. The line joining the sun to a planet
sweeps out equal areas in equal times.
3. The square of the period of
revolution of a planet is proportional to
the cube of the length of the major
axis of its orbit.

1. Law of Orbits

2. Law of Areas

3. Law of Periods

G is the Newtonian Constant

of Universal Gravitation=
6.67408 10-11 m3 kg-1 s-2
M1 is the mass of the star.
M2 is the mass of the planet.

References

http://
mathworld.wolfram.com/ConicSectionDirec
trix.html
http://
mathworld.wolfram.com/Ellipse.html
http://
mathworld.wolfram.com/Parabola.html
http://
mathworld.wolfram.com/Hyperbola.html
https://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conic_section