CONIC

SECTIONS
At the end of the lesson, the
students should be able to;
1. Define conic sections.
2. Enumerate the different
types of conic sections.
3. Identify the type of
conic sections given the
equation in standard and
general forms.
 CONIC
SECTIONS?
 A conic section (or 
simply conic) is a curve 
obtained as the 
intersection of the surface 
of a cone with a plane.
FOUR CONIC SECTIONS:
A plane intersecting a double cone will
generate:
Parabola Circle Ellipse Hyperbola

• Circles • Ellipses
• Parabolas • Hyperbolas
ADDITIONAL IMAGES
DETERMINE
LETS THE TYPE
TRY THESE ! OF
CONIC SECTION THAT EACH
GENERAL EQUATION WILL
PRODUCE:
1. X + 3Y + 4X – 6Y + 1
2 2

=0
2.
3. X 2 – 8X
2 2 – 8Y - 24 = 0
+ Y - 2X – 4Y + 1 =
0
4. 4X2 - Y2 + 16X + 6Y - 9
= 0
5. -4X2 + 12Y2 + 16X + 72Y +
44 = 0
1. X2 + 3Y2 + 4X – 6Y ELLI
+ 1 =2 0 PSE
2. X – 8X – 8Y - PARAB
24 = 0 OLA
3. X2 + Y2 - 2X – 4Y + CIRC
1 = 02 LE
4. 4X - Y2 + 16X + 6Y
-9=0 HYPERB
OLA
5. -4X2 + 12Y2 + 16X + 72Y +
44 = 0 HYPERB
OLA
CIRCLE
CIRCLE
a round plane figure whose 
boundary (the circumference) 
consists of points equidistant 
from a fixed point (the center).
CIRCLE
EQUATIONS IN STANDARD
FORM
Center at the origin
x +y =r
2 2 2

Center at ( h , k )
(x – h) + (y – k) = r
2 2 2
PARABOLA
PARABOLA
A parabola is the set of all points 
in the plane that are equidistant 
from a fixed line (directrix) and 
a fixed point (focus) not on the 
line.
The Standard Form of a parabola 
with vertex at (0,0)

y = 4cx
2
y2 = - 4c
x2
x = 4c y
2
x = - 4c y
The Standard Form of a parabola 
with vertex at (h,k)
(y-k) = 4c (x-h)
2

(y-k) = - 4c (x-h)
2

(x-h) = 4c (y-k)
2

(x-h) = - 4c (y-k)
2
 ELLIPSE

© Jill Britton, September 25, 2003

• Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capital building is elliptic. It was in this room
that John Quincy Adams, while a member of the House of
Representatives, discovered this acoustical phenomenon. He situated
his desk at a focal point of the elliptical ceiling, easily eavesdropping on
the private conversations of other House members located near the
other focal point.
ELLIPSE
The ellipse is the set of all points 
in the plane for which the sum of 
distances from two fixed points 
(foci) is a positive constant.
HORIZONTAL MAJOR
AXIS:
HORIZONTAL MAJOR
AXIS:
Center is (h, k).
Length of major axis is 2a.
Length of minor axis is 2b.
Distance between center and either
focus is c with
c2 = a2– b2, a > b > 0.
ELLIPSE WITH VERTICAL
MAJOR AXIS:
ELLIPSE WITH VERTICAL
MAJOR AXIS:
Center is (h, k).
Length of major axis is 2a.
Length of minor axis is 2b.
Distance between center and either
focus is c with
c2 = a2– b2, a > b > 0.
 HYPERBOLA

The huge chimney of a nuclear power plant has the shape of a hyperboloid,
as does
the architecture of the James S. McDonnell Planetarium of the St. Louis
Science Center.
HYPERBOLA
The hyperbola is the set of all 
points in a plane for which the 
difference between the distances 
from two fixed points (foci) is a 
positive constant.
Differs from an Ellipse whose 
sum of the distances was a 
constant.
HYPERBOLA WITH
HORIZONTAL
TRANSVERSE AXIS
HYPERBOLA WITH
HORIZONTAL
TRANSVERSE AXIS
Center is (h, k).
Distance between the vertices is
2a.
Distance between the foci is 2c.
c =a +b
2 2 2
HYPERBOLA WITH
VERTICAL
TRANSVERSE AXIS
HYPERBOLA WITH
VERTICAL TRANSVERSE
AXIS
Center is (h, k).
Distance between the vertices is
2b.
Distance between the foci is 2c.
c2 = a 2 + b 2
IDENTIFY THE TYPE OF
ACTIVITY 1:
CONIC SECTION ARE THE
FOLLOWING:
1. 4x2 + 4y2 = 64

4. y – 4x = 0
2
5. (y+3) =4(x+5)
2

6. + =1