Conics

Conics

Radu MICULESCU

Transilvania University of Braşov

December 2020

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 Conics

Conics are those curves which are formed by intersecting a plane and a
double-napped right cone.

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 Ellipse I

Ellipse is the locus of points in the Euclidian plane having the property
that the sum of their distances to two …xed points is a constant.

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 Ellipse II

Given an orthogonal frame xOy in the Euclidian space, a > c > 0 and
F1 ( c, 0) and F2 (c, 0), an arbitrary point M (x, y ) having the property
that MF1 + MF2 = 2a is characterized by the relation

x2 y2
+ = 1,
a2 b2
p
where c = a2 b2 .

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 Ellipse III

F1 and F2 are called the foci of the ellipse.

F1 F2 = 2c is called the focal distance.
a is called the major semi-axis and b the minor semi-axis.
0 0
A(a, 0), A ( a, 0), B (b, 0) and B ( b, 0) are called the vertices of the
ellipse.
a2 a2
The lines d1 : x = c and d2 : x = c are called the directrixes of the
ellipse.
c
e= a < 1 is called the eccentricity of the ellipse.

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 Ellipse IV

The axes Ox and Oy are axes of symmetry.

The origin (0, 0) is the center of the ellipse.

The equation
x2 y2
+ =1
a2 b2
is called the reduced (or the canonical) equation of the ellipse.

The ellipse is also the locus of point M such that

MF1 MF2
= e or = e.
dist (M, d1 ) dist (M, d2 )

The ellipse can be parametrically described by

x = a cos ϕ
f , ϕ 2 [0, 2π ].
y = b sin ϕ
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 Ellipses in the real world I

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 Ellipses in the real world II

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 Ellipses in the real world III

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 Hyperbola I

Hyperbola is the locus of points in the Euclidian plane having the property
that the absolute value of the di¤erence of their distances to two …xed
points is a constant.

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 Hyperbola II

Given an orthogonal frame xOy in the Euclidian space, c > a > 0 and
F1 ( c, 0) and F2 (c, 0), an arbitrary point M (x, y ) having the property
that jMF1 MF2 j = 2a is characterized by the relation

x2 y2
= 1,
a2 b2
p
where c = a2 + b 2 .

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 Hyperbola III

F1 and F2 are called the foci of the hyperbola.

0
A(a, 0) and A ( a, 0) are called the vertices of the hyperbola.
a and b are called the semi-axes of the hyperbola.
The lines y = ba x and y = ba x are called the asymptotes of the
hyperbola. They represent the diagonals of the rectangle with the center
(0, 0) whose sides are parallel to the axes of symmetry and have the
lengths 2a and 2b.
a2 a2
The lines d1 : x = c and d2 : x = c are called the directrixes of the
hyperbola.
c
e= a > 1 is called the eccentricity of the hyperbola.

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 Hyperbola IV

The axes Ox and Oy are axes of symmetry.

The origin (0, 0) is the center of the hyperbola.
The equation
x2 y2
=1
a2 b2
is called the reduced (or the canonical) equation of the hyperbola.
The ellipse is also the locus of point M such that
MF1 MF2
= e or = e.
dist (M, d1 ) dist (M, d2 )
The hyperbola can be parametrically described by
x = +a cosh t
f , t 2 R,
y = b sinh t
where
et + e t et e t
cosh t = and sinh t = .
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2 Conics
2 December 2020 15 / 43
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 Hyperbolas in the real world I

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 Hyperbolas in the real world II

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 Hyperbolas in the real world III

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 Parabola I

Parabola is the locus of points in the Euclidian plane whose distances to a

…xed point (called the focus) and to a …xed line (called the directrix) are
equal.

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 Parabola II

Given an orthogonal frame xOy in the Euclidian space, p > 0, F ( p2 , 0) and

the line d: x = p2 , an arbitrary point M (x, y ) having the property that
MF = dist (M, d ) is characterized by the relation

y 2 = 2px.

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 Parabola III

F ( p2 , 0) is called the focus of the parabola, where p is the focal parameter.

O (0, 0) is the vertex of the parabola.
Ox is the transverse axis of the parabola (or the axis of symmetry).
Oy is the tangent axis of the parabola (tangent at the vertex of the
parabola).
p
The line d: x = 2 is the directrix of the parabola.
e = 1 is called the eccentricity of the parabola.

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 Parabolas in the real world I

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 Parabolas in the real world II

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 Parabolas in the real world III

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 Parabolas in the real world IV

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 Parabolas in the real world V

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 Parabolas in the real world VI

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 Parabolas in the real world VII

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 Parabolas in the real world VIII

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 Parabolas in the real world IX

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 Parabolas in the real world X

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 Parabolas in the real world XI

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 Parabolas in the real world XII

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 Quadratic curves in the Euclidian plane I

A set of points in the Euclidian space is called conic if the coordinates of it

satisfy the relation

a11 x 2 + 2a12 xy + a22 y 2 + 2a13 x + 2a23 y + a33 = 0,

2 + a2 + a2 6 = 0.
where a11 12 22

In other words, a conic is an algebraic curve of degree two in the Euclidian

plane.

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 Quadratic curves in the Euclidian plane II

The matrix
a11 a12 a13
A = ( a12 a22 a23 )
a13 a23 a33
is called the matrix of the conic.
We can consider:
a11 a12 a13
∆= a12 a22 a23 - the cubic invariant
a13 a23 a33

a11 a12
δ= - the quadratic invariant
a12 a22
and
I = a11 + a22 - the linear invariant.
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 The isometric classi…cation of non-degenerated conics

If ∆ 6= 0, then the conic is non-degenerated.

α) If δ > 0 we have two cases:

a) If I ∆ < 0, the conic is an ellipse.
a) If I ∆ > 0, the conic is the empty set.

β) If δ = 0, the conic is a parabola.

γ) If δ < 0, the conic is a hyperbola.

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 The isometric classi…cation of degenerated conics

If ∆ = 0, then the conic is degenerated.

α) If δ > 0, then the conic is a double point.

β) If δ = 0, the conic is a pair of lines (parallel or confounded) or the

empty set.

γ) If δ < 0, the conic is a pair of intersecting lines.

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 An example

Study the nature of the conic 6x 2 4xy + 9y 2 4x 32y 6 = 0.

We have
6 2 2
A=( 2 9 16 )
2 16 6
and
∆= 2000 6= 0, δ = 50 > 0 and I = 15 (so I δ < 0).
Therefore the conic is an ellipse.

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 Homework

Study the nature of the conic 7x 2 8xy + y 2 6x + 6y + 1 = 0.

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