| conic section n. 1. The intersection of a right circular cone and a plane, which generates one of a group of plane curves, including the circle, ellipse, hyperbola, and parabola. 2. A graph of the general quadratic equation in two variables. |   conic sections created by the intersection of various planes of a right circular cone |
conic section
n
(Mathematics) 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. Often shortened to conic
| conic section 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. |
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. |  conic section - (geometry) a curve generated by the intersection of a plane and a circular conegeometry - the pure mathematics of points and lines and curves and surfaces plane figure, two-dimensional figure - a two-dimensional shape ellipse, oval - a closed plane curve resulting from the intersection of a circular cone and a plane cutting completely through it; "the sums of the distances from the foci to any point on an ellipse is constant" parabola - a plane curve formed by the intersection of a right circular cone and a plane parallel to an element of the curve hyperbola - an open curve formed by a plane that cuts the base of a right circular cone |
Translations
conic section
n (Math) → Kegelschnitt m
Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content.
| ?Page tools | ||
|---|---|---|
|