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A conic section is a curve created from the intersection of a

plane with a cone.
There are four different types of conic sections
Circles Ellipses Parabolas Hyperbolas
By changing the angle of the plane in relation to the cone, it
can also produce a point, a line, or two intersecting lines.
These are called degenerate cases and are not considered
conic sections.

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CIRCLES - If the plane intersects the cone perpendicular to the axis

of the cone, then the curve produced will be a circle.
ELLIPSES - If the plane intersects the cone at an angle greater than
perpendicular to the axis but less than that of the line with the slope
of the cone, the curve produced will be an ellipse.

PARABOLA - If the plane intersects the cone at the same angle as

that of the line of the slope of the cone, then the curve produced will
be a parabola.

HYPERBOLA - If the plane intersects the cone at an angle greater

than that of the line of the slope of the cone, then the curve produced
will be a hyperbola.

General Equation: Ax2  Bxy  Cy2  Dx  Ey  F  0

Discriminant: B2  4 AC
The type of section can be found from the sign of discriminants.

If B 2  4 AC  0, Ellipse, Circle, Point or No Curve

If B 2  4 AC  0, Parabola
If B 2  4 AC  0, Hyperbola

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The eccentricity is denoted by e and is equal to the ratio of the

distances of point of the curve to the Focus (Fixed Point) and
Directrix (Fixed Line).
PF
e
PL
When e  1, Parabola When e  1, Ellipse
When e  1, Hyperbola When e  0, Circle

To determine the conic section by inspection, complete any squares that are
necessary, so that the variables are on one side and the constant is on the right
hand side. Any squared variable below could be replaced by a quantity. That is,
instead of x 2  y 2  1 , it might be  x  2   y 2  1 .
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Circle : x2  y2  1
Both squared terms are present, both are positive, both have the same
coefficient. The right hand side is positive. If the right hand side is zero, it
is a point. If the right hand side is negative, then there is no graph.

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Ellipse : 3 x 2  4y 2  1
Both squared terms are present, both are positive, but they have different
coefficients. The right hand side must be positive. If the right hand side is
zero, it is a point. If the right hand side is negative, then there is no graph.

Hyperbola : x 2 2 y 2  1
Both squared terms are present, but one is positive and the other is
negative. The coefficients may or may not be the same, it doesn't matter.
The right hand side isn't zero. If the right hand side is zero, then it's
intersecting lines.

Parabola : 4 x 2  y  1
Both variables are present, but one is squared and the other is linear.

Line : x  y1
Neither variable is squared.

Point : x2  y 2  0
A circle (or ellipse) with the right hand side being zero.

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No Graph : x 2  y 2  1
A circle (or ellipse) with the right hand side being negative.

Intersecting Lines : x 2  y 2  0
A hyperbola with the right hand side equal to zero.

Parallel Lines : x 2  1
One variable is squared and the other variable is missing. The right hand
side must be positive. If the right hand side is zero, then it is a line (x2 = 0 so
x = 0) and if the right hand side is negative (x2 = -1), then there is no graph.

Parabola in Real World:

1. Water from a fountain takes a path of parabola to fall on the earth.

2. A ball thrown high, follows a parabolic path.

3. A roller coaster takes the path of rise and fall of a parabolic track of the sea.

4. The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco in California is famous with

parabolic spans on both sides.

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Ellipses in Real World:

1. Electrons in the atom move around the nucleus in an elliptical path of orbit.

2. Property of Ellipse to reflect sound and light is used in pulverizing

kidney stones. The patient is laid in an elliptical tank of water. Kidney
stones being at the other focus are concentrated and pulverized.

3. Whispering galleries at US Statutory capital and St. Paul’s Cathedral,

London demonstrates the property of the ellipse that one’s whisper from one
focus can be heard at the other focus by only a person to whom it is sent.

4. Elliptical training machines enable running or walking without straining the

heart.

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Hyperbola in Real World:

1. Dulles Airport has a design of hyperbolic parabolic. It has one cross-section
of a hyperbola and the other a parabola.
2. Gear Transmission having pair of hyperbolic gears. It is with skewed
axles and hourglass shape giving hyperbola shape. The hyperbolic gears
transmit motion to the skewed axle.
3. The Kobe Port Tower has hourglass shape, that means it has two hyperbolas.
Things seen from a point on one side will be the same when seen from the same
point on the other side.
4. Cooling Towers use hyperbolic shapes due to its ability to withstand high
winds , while also making it the most efficient.

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Rewrite the x  12 xy  4 y  30 in the x’-y’ system

2 2

Example 1 and graph it in x’-y’ system.

Solution: First, find cot  2  .

x2 12xy  4 y2  30
Find A, B, and C. 12

A1 B12 C4

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A  C 1   4  5
cot  2     h 2  52  12 2
B 12 12
h 2  25  144
h 2  169
 h  13

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Solution: Next, find sin  and cos  .

1  cos  2  1  cos  2 
sin   sin  
2 2
1 5 1 5
sin   13 sin   13
2 2
2 2
sin   sin  
13 13
Now find x and y :
x  x 'cos   y 'sin  y  x 'sin   y 'cos 
 3   2   2   3 
x  x '   y '  y  x '   y ' 
 13   13   13   13 
3 x ' 2 y ' 2 x ' 3 y '
x y
13 13

Solution: Now, substitute x and y.

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Solution: Graph

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Semi-cubic Parabola : y   ax 2

It has a parametric equations x  t 2 and y  at .

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tan 2  sec 
It has a polar equations r  .
a
The semi-cubical parabola is the curve along which a particle descending under
gravity describes equal vertical spacings within equal times, making it an
isochronous curve.
Isochronous curve - A curve with the property that the time for a particle to
reach a lowest point on the curve if it starts from rest and slides without friction
does not depend on the particle's starting point.

x3
Cissoid: y 
2

2a  x
It has a polar equations r  2a tan  sin  .
The cissoid is a pedal curve.

Pedal curve - A pedal curve is a curve formed by the feet of perpendiculars

dropped from a moving point to a fixed curve.

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8 x3
The Witch: y 
 x 2  4a 2 
It has a parametric equations
x  2a cot  and y  2a sin 2  .
The Witch of Agnesi is a cubic plane curve defined from two diametrically
opposite points of a circle.

Conchoid:  x  b
2
x 2
 y2   a 2 x 2  0

It has a polar equations r  a  b sec  .

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Limacon:
It has a polar equations r  b  a cos  .

x  y2   a2  x2  y2 
2
Lemniscate: 2

It has a polar equations r 2  a 2 cos  2 .

The lemniscate, also called the lemniscate of

Bernoulli, is a polar curve whose most common
form is the locus of points the product of whose
distances from two fixed points (called the foci) a
distance 2a away is the constant a2.

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Trigonometric Curves:

Cycloid:
It has a parametric equations
x  a  t  sin t  and y  a 1  cos t  .

The cycloid is the locus of a point on the rim of a circle of radius a rolling along
a straight line.
If the cycloid has a cusp at the origin and its humps are oriented upward.

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The Spiral of Archimedes: r  a

a
The Hyperbolic Spiral: r 


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The Parabolic Spiral: r  a

2 2


The Logarithmic Spiral:

r  ae b
It has a parametric equations
x  r cos  e b and y  r sin  e b .

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