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

See Examples For:

conic section

For the following exercises, determine which conic section is represented based on the given equation.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 13, 2015

Later in this chapter, we will see that the graph of any quadratic equation in two variables is a conic section.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 13, 2015

Because the discriminant remains unchanged, observing the discriminant enables us to identify the conic section.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 13, 2015

Explain how eccentricity determines which conic section is given.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 13, 2015

The particular form of conic section which denotes the orbit of a planet is known by the name of the ellipse: it is spoken of somewhat less accurately as an oval.

From The Story of the Heavens by Ball, Robert S. (Robert Stawell), Sir