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

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

From Textbooks ● Mar. 30, 2016

What effect does the term have on the graph of a conic section?

From Textbooks ● Feb. 13, 2015

Each of these orbits can be modeled by a conic section in the polar coordinate system.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 13, 2015

What do we know about the focus/foci of a conic section if it is written as a polar equation?

From Textbooks ● Feb. 13, 2015

Excluding the general group itself, every one of these leaves either a point, a line, or a conic section unaltered.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 6 "Groups, Theory of" to "Gwyniad" by Various