Can someone tell me about conic sections?
Hi there, I’m not sure exactly what you need to know, but basically a conic section is the shape or curve you get when you cut through (take a section across) a cone. There are four types. The first is when you cut horizontally across, parallel to the base. The section you obtain is a circle. The second is when the section is taken at an oblique, ie. not parallel to the base, and not parallel to the side of the cone, but at any other angle in between the two. This gives you an ellipse (an oval). The third type of section is when you cut parallel to a side of the cone. This produces a curve known as a parabola. Finally, the fourth type requires a little imagination. Imagine two cones, one on top of the other, flipped upside down, so that they meet at a single point in the middle (think of an hourglass, you’ll get the idea). If you cut at an angle steeper than the angle between the base and the side of the bottom cone, say, then the section will extend up and also cut across the upper co
