Writing assignment #3Scott B. RobertsMath 151There are three different types of conic sections that we examined in class. They include the parabola, ellipse, and the hyperbola. Conics are curves that are formed by intersecting a cone with a plane. The conic section we end up with is dependant upon the degree that the plane intersects the cone.All of the conic sections we saw in class are derived from the same general quadratic equation: Ax2 + Bxy + Cy2 + Dx + Ey + F=0The determinant of the equation is B2- 4AC. Assuming a conic is not degenerate, the following conditions hold true: If B2-4AC> 0, the conic is a hyperbola. If B2-4AC< 0, the conic is a circle, or an ellipse. If B2- 4AC= 0, the conic is a parabolaA parabola is the set of all points (x,y) that are the same distance from a fixed line (called the directrix) and a fixed point (called the focus). It takes the shape that is similar to the letter U. Parabola== (y− k)2= 4p(x− h)2 is the equation with axis parallel to the x-axis, or(x− h)2= 4p(y− k)
