Pre-Cal reviewer
Conic sections
— also known as conics
— are formed by intersecting a double-napped cone with a plane.
— When an infinite cone is intersected by a plane, the resulting figure is called a conic section.
Four main conic sections:
Circles
Parabolas
Ellipses
Hyperbola.
Circle
— is a conic section that is formed by intersecting a cone with a plane that is perpendicular to the
axis of the cone
— is the set of all points in a plane that are equidistant from a fixed point called the center (h,k)
— The distance from the center to any point (x, y) on the circle is called the radius, denoted by r.
Parabola
— is formed when a plane parallel to the generator of the cone intersects the cone.
— is the set of all points in a plane that are equidistant from a fixed line called the Directrix and a
fixed point of the plane known as the Focus.
Ellipse
— When you cut a cone at an angle, observe that you can form a closed curve, which is in shape or
looks like a squished circle. This shape is also known as an ellipse.
— is the set of all points P in a plane such that the sum of its distances from two fixed points on a
plane is constant.
— The fixed points are referred to as foci and the constant sum is the length of major axis of the
ellipse.
vertex — the endpoints of the major axis (longer axis)
Co-vertex — end point of minor axis (shorter axis)
Center — is the point of intersection of major and minor axis.
Foci — two fixed point on the major axis.
latus rectum — chord that passes through a focus and is perpendicular to the major axis.
Hyperbola
— has two foci and two vertices.
— looks like two mirrored parabolas whose vertices lie on the same horizontal or vertical line and
with opposite openings of the graphs.
— formed when a plane intersects a double-napped cone.
— is the set of all points P in a plane such that the difference of its distances from two fixed points,
called the foci, is constant.
Two basic forms of a hyperbola
— hyperbola with a horizontal transverse axis and a hyperbola with a vertical transverse axis.
The graph of a hyperbola consists of two different parts which are called branches.