Conic sections is regarded as one of the most crucial topics to study for mathematics. On an average, nearly 5 TO 7 heavy weightage questions are asked from this topic, without fail every year. Thus, scoring well in this topic could shoot up your marks and rank. However, conic sections requires a substantial about of preparation and patience. The number of formulas to remember and the number of derivations to understand are aplenty. So, it’s perhaps best that you’re giving this topic a revision now and not picking the topic for the first time.
For most topics, it is sufficient to study NCERT material to gain a rough idea about the topic, however conic sections will require more than NCERT to crack questions at Mains and Advanced level. I recommend you study from the Cengage Book on Co Ordinate Geometry and cross refer to Arihant’s Co Ordinate Geometry book. The key to mastering this topic is understanding the theory and derivations. Once you’re clear with that, all problems will become simplified.
Conic sections are divided into the following categories:
Besides calculus, this is the only topic that can fetch you maximum marks. It is a vast topic and can further be divided into various parts like:
- Straight Lines
- Circle
- Parabola
- Ellipse
- Hyperbola
First of all, you need to understand the basics of coordinate geometry. Once you’ve studied your theory, start practicing to identify the type of conic sections.
Simple technique to recognise different conic sections
The type of conic represented by the general equation of the second degree in two variables
Ax2 + 2Bxy + Cy2 + 2Dx + 2Ey + F = 0
Basic formulas
Work on remembering the sign conventions and try to always draw sketches of the problems given to you. Thus, it is pivotal that you study all topics with a good understanding of the diagrams and graphs. This will reduce the effort required to solve any conic section problem, because having a clear picture of your problem statement helps.
Straight Lines
This is the simplest topic in conic sections, focus on:
- Mid Point joining two lines formula
- Slope of line formula
- Parallel and perpendicular lines
Circles
This topic will take you at least two days of preparation, so keep calm.
Ellipse
Another tricky topic in conic sections.
Parabola and Hyperbola
Pay attention to asymptotes, bound to get questions in your paper.
Hope this article helped you in your revision. For a quick overview of integration you may go through this article. That’s all for now, keep calm and study well.
