CONICS

In

mathematics, a conic section (or just conic) is acurve obtained by intersecting acone (more precisely, a right circular conical surface) with aplane.

In

mathematics, a conic section (or just conic) is acurve obtained by intersecting acone (more precisely, a right circular conical surface) with aplane.

4
The

three types of conic section are the hyperbola, theparabola, and the ellipse. Thecircle is a special case of the ellipse, and is of sufficient interest in its own right that it is sometimes called the fourth type of conic section.

 The

conic sections were named and studied as long ago as 200 BC, when Apollonius of Perga undertook a systematic study of their properties.

 Types

of conic sections: 1. Parabola 2. Circle and ellipse 3. Hyperbola

PARABOLA
A

u-shaped curve with certain specific properties. Formally, a parabola is defined as follows: For a given point, called the focus, and a given line not through the focus, called the directrix, a parabola is thelocus of points such that the distance to the focus equals the distance to the directrix.

 It

is a common error to call any ushaped curve a parabola. A parabola must satisfy the conditions listed above, and a parabola always has a quadratic equation.

THIS IS A GRAPH OF THE PARABOLA WITH ALL ITS MAJOR FEATURES LABELED: AXIS OF SYMMETRY, FOCUS, VERTEX, ANDDIRECTRIX.

Every parabola has an axis of symmetry which is the line that runs down its 'center'. This line divides the graph into two perfect halves. In the picture of on the left, the axis of symmetry is the line x =1.

FOCUS OF A PARABOLA
The

focus of a parabola is a fixed point on the interior of a parabola used in the formal definition of thecurve.

THE VERTEX OF A PARABOLA

The vertex of a parabola is the point where the parabola crosses its axis. If the coefficient of the x2 term is positive, the vertex will be the lowest point on the graph, the point at the bottom of the U-shape. If the coefficient of the x2term is negative, the vertex will be the highest point on the graph, the point at the top of the U-shape.

 The

standard equation of a parabola is y = ax2 + bx + c. But the equation for a parabola can also be written in "vertex form": y = a(x h)2 + k In this equation, the vertex of the parabola is the point (h, k).

 You

can see how this relates to the standard equation by multiplying it out: y = a(x h)(x h) + k y = ax2 2ahx + ah2 + k

The coefficient of x here is 2ah. This means that in the standard form, y = ax2 + bx + c, the expression gives the x-coordinate of the vertex.

 Example: Find

the vertex of the parabola. y = 3x2 + 12x 12

Here, a = 3 and b = 12. So, the x-coordinate of the vertex is: -12/ 2(3) = -2 Substituting in the original equation to get the y-coordinate, we get: y = 3(2)2 + 12(2) 12 = 24 So, the vertex of the parabola is at (2, 24).