conic section

American  

noun

Geometry.

1. a curve formed by the intersection of a plane with a right circular cone; an ellipse, a circle, a parabola, or a hyperbola.

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conic section British  

noun

1. Often shortened to: conic.  one of a group of curves formed by the intersection of a plane and a right circular cone. It is either a circle, ellipse, parabola, or hyperbola, depending on the eccentricity, e , which is constant for a particular curve e = 0 for a circle; e <1 for an ellipse; e = 1 for a parabola; e>1 for a hyperbola

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conic section Scientific  

1. A curve formed by the intersection of a plane with a cone. Conic sections can appear as circles, ellipses, hyperbolas, or parabolas, depending on the angle of the intersecting plane relative to the cone's base.

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Etymology

Origin of conic section

First recorded in 1655–65

Example Sentences

Using the definitions of the focal parameter and eccentricity of the conic section, we can derive an equation for any conic section in polar coordinates.

From Textbooks • Mar. 30, 2016

When a quadric surface intersects a coordinate plane, the trace is a conic section.

From Textbooks • Mar. 30, 2016

To identify the conic section, we use the discriminant of the conic section 4AC − B2.

From Textbooks • Mar. 30, 2016

The method for graphing a conic section with rotated axes involves determining the coefficients of the conic in the rotated coordinate system.

From Textbooks • Mar. 30, 2016

By projecting the figure thus described upon another plane he is able to state his theorem for the case where the circle is replaced by any conic section.

From An Elementary Course in Synthetic Projective Geometry by Lehmer, Derrick Norman