Ever wondered what happens to a cricket ball when it is hit high, soaring towards a six? Yes, it goes out of the boundary but what about the path it follows? Well, the path it follows is a parabola. Fascinating, right? Parabola is one conic section and there are more! Let’s get all these answers by understanding the concepts of conic sections below:
FAQs on Conic Sections
Question 1: How many types of conic section exist?
Answer: There are three types of conics which are: parabola, hyperbola, and ellipse. Furthermore, the circle is a special kind of ellipse. Sometimes, circles are considered as the fourth type of conic section.
Question 2: Who is credited with the discovery of conic sections?
Answer: The Greek mathematician Menaechmus is credited with the discovery of conic sections.
Question 3: Explain the general conic form?
Answer: A conic section refers to the intersection of a plane and a double right circular cone. For a conic section, the intersecting plane’s slope should be greater in comparison to the cone. Any conic section’s general equation is. Ax2+Bxy+Cy2+Dx+Ey+F=0 where A, B, C, D, E and F happen to be constants.
Question 4: What is the relevance of P in parabola?
Answer: The absolute value of p refers to the distance that exists between the vertex and the focus and the distance between the directrix and the vertex. The sign on p gives us an indication of which way the parabola faces. Since the directrix and focus happen to be two units apart, then this distance will be one unit, so | p | will be 1.