Sarah Rimawi Carol Collins AP BC Calculus 24 May 2012 Conic Sections: Beyond the Classroom Conic sections are

used extensively throughout ones day, one comes in contact with, and is aided by, hundreds of conic sections. However, most are unaware of the practical, daily interactions with conic sections, ergo the mathematical concepts taken for granted status. Conic sections have many practical, and one very sneaky, uses outside of the classroom realm. The ellipse has an important property that is used in the reflection of light and sound waves: Any light or signal that starts at one focus will be reflected to the other focus. This principle has a medical purpose, demonstrate in lithotripsy, a medical procedure for treating kidney stones (Uses of Conic Sections). The patient is placed in an elliptical tank of water, with the kidney stone at one focus and high energy shock waves generated at the other, causing the stone to be pulverized (Applications of Conic Sections). The same principle has also been used in a more sneaky fashion throughout history. Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capital building is elliptical and John Quincy Adams used this as an advantage when he was a representative. He placed his desk under a focal point of the elliptical ceiling, eavesdropping, undetected, on the private conversations of other House members located near the other focal point (Occurrence of Conics). Parabolas also possess useful reflective properties. A parabolic mirror is a curved surface formed by rotating a parabola about its axis. If a light is placed at the focus of a parabolic mirror, the light will be reflected in rays parallel to the axis, forming a straight beam of light

Rimawi 2 (Occurrence of Conics). It is for this reason that parabolic surfaces are used for headlamp reflectors (Applications of Conic Sections, Uses of Conic Sections). The bulb is placed at the focus for the high beam and slightly above the focus for the low beam (Occurrence of Conics). Hyperbolas also have their practical, real-life applications. Most notable is the use of hyperbolas in the radio navigations system known as LORAN (Uses of Conic Sections). LORAN, or Long Range Navigation, If each center of two sets of concentric circles is the source of a radio signal, the synchronized signals would intersect one another in associated hyperbolas, which forms the basis for LORAN (Occurrence of Conics). In other words, radio signals given from the center of each circle will intersect each other in hyperbolas (Applications of Conic Sections). There are many, many more applications of conic sections. Used in everything from satellite dishes to reflectors, much of what people take for granted on a daily basis is made possible by conic sections. Conic sections may have even helped John Quincy Adams win the presidency. Works Cited Britton, Jill. Occurrence of Conics. Jill Britton. 23 February 2012. Web. 23 May 2012. Applications of Conic Sections. authorSTREAM. 22 November 2011. Web. 23 May 2012. Uses of Conic Sections. Mathcentral. Web. 23 May 2012.