Conic Section

Pronunciation: /ˈkɒn ɪk ˈsɛk ʃən/ ?

A conic section is a 2-dimensional figure formed by intersecting the surface of a 3-dimensional double cone with a plane (see figure 1).^[1] Four 2-dimensional figures that can be formed are the circle, ellipse, parabola, and hyperbola. Conic sections were studied as early as 200 BC by Apollonius of Perga.

Figure 1: Conic Sections. Courtesy Duk@en.Wikipedia.org. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Figure 2: Table of Conics, Cyclopaedia, 1728. Click on picture to see full size.

References

1. conic section. merriam-webster.com. Encyclopedia Britannica. (Accessed: 2010-01-05). http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conic section.
2. Drew, Rev. W. H.. A geometrical treatise on conic sections, 4th edition. MacMillan and Company, 1869. (Accessed: 2010-01-19). http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924031271509#page/n6/mode/1up.
3. Hamilton, Rev. Henry Parr. An Analytical System of Conic Sections, 5th edition, art. 79-80. John W. Parker, 1863. (Accessed: 2010-01-19). http://www.archive.org/stream/ananalyticalsys00hamigoog#page/n93/mode/1up/search/conic.

Cite this article as:

Conic Section. 2010-01-05. All Math Words Encyclopedia. Life is a Story Problem.org. http://www.allmathwords.org/en/c/conicsection.html.

Translations

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Image Credits

• All images and manipulatives are by David McAdams unless otherwise stated. All images by David McAdams are Copyright © Life is a Story Problem.org and are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.
• Figure 1: Conic Sections: Pietros Sacanis. Released by author into public domain. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Conic_sections_sk.png
• Figure 2: Table of Conics, Cyclopaedia, 1728.: ''Cyclopaedia'', volume 1, p 304, 1728. Copyright has expired. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Table_of_Conics,_Cyclopaedia,_volume_1,_p_304,_1728.jpg

Revision History

2008-10-11: Changed definition to refer to the 'surface' of a double cone (McAdams, David.)
2008-07-07: Corrected link errors. Corrected spelling (McAdams, David.)
2008-04-28: Initial version (McAdams, David.)