REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS OF CONIC SECTIONS

● A parabola can be utilized in light and radio wave reflectors and receivers. Cross
sections of car headlights and flashlights, for example, are parabolas created by the
paraboloid of revolution about its axis. The focus of the headlights, flash lights, and
satellite dishes is at the focus, and light from that point is reflected outward parallel to
the axis of symmetry. On the other hand, arriving radio waves or sound waves
parallel to the axis are reflected into the focus, magnifying the same. Satellite dishes
and field microphones used at athletic events, incoming radio waves or sound waves
parallel to the axis that are reflected into the focus, intensifying the same.
● All planets in the solar system, according to Johannes Kepler, revolve around the
Sun in elliptic orbits with the Sun at one of the foci. Some comets have elliptical orbits
that include the Sun as one of the foci. Our satellite moon orbits the Earth in an
elliptical orbit, with one of its foci being the Earth. Satellites of other planets follow
elliptical orbits around their home planets.
● Some comets travel on hyperbolic routes with the Sun at one focus; unlike comets in
elliptical orbits, which return at regular intervals, hyperbolic comets only pass by the
Sun once.
● Circles are used in real life situations such as wheels of cars, bikes, and other forms
of transportation. The shape of a circle allows a vehicle to move smoothly from place
to place.
● Ellipse's ability to reflect sound and light is employed in the pulverization of kidney
stones. The patient is positioned in an elliptical water tank. Kidney stones are
concentrated and pulverized at the other focus.
WORD PROBLEMS

1) On 4th of July, a firework is projected vertically into the air and reaches a maximum
height of 110 m. The parabolic path of the fireworks lands 36 m from the launch site.

a) Determine the equation of the height of the firework as a function of the horizontal
distance travelled.
b) How high is the firework after travelling a horizontal distance of 12 m?
2) Each cable of a suspended bridge is in the shape of a parabola between two towers
that are 100 m apart and whose height are 20 m above the roadway. The cables are
2 m above the roadway in the middle between the towers. Find the height of the
cable 12 m from the center of the bridge.
3) The auditorium is elliptical with a width of 20 m and a length of 40 m. If a host is
standing at one focus facing the individual at the very back of the audience sitting at
the other focus, how far apart are the two people?
4) The path of a boat is hyperbolic centered at the origin, relative to two trees on the
shore 170 miles apart that are located at the foci. If the boat is 58 miles south of the
center of the hyperbola, find the equation of the hyperbola.
5) A garden is shaped as a circle, and extends to points (1, 19) and (-5, 7). Write the
equation for the circle that models the garden.