parabola

parabola
/peuh rab"euh leuh/, n. Geom.
a plane curve formed by the intersection of a right circular cone with a plane parallel to a generator of the cone; the set of points in a plane that are equidistant from a fixed line and a fixed point in the same plane or in a parallel plane. Equation: y2 = 2px or x2 = 2py. See diag. under conic section.
[1570-80; < NL < Gk parabolé an application. See PARABLE]

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Open curve, one of the conic sections.

It results when a right circular cone intersects a plane that is parallel to an edge of the cone. It is also the path of a point moving so that its distance from a fixed line (directrix) is always equal to its distance from a fixed point (focus). In analytic geometry its equation is y = ax2 + bx + c (a second-degree, or quadratic, polynomial function). Such a curve has the useful property that any line parallel to its axis of symmetry reflects through its focus, and vice versa. Rotating a parabola about its axis produces a surface (paraboloid) with the same reflection property, making it an ideal shape for satellite dishes and reflectors in headlights. Parabolas occur naturally as the paths of projectiles. The shape is also seen in the design of bridges and arches.

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      open curve, a conic section produced by the intersection of a right circular cone and a plane parallel to an element of the cone. As a plane curve, it may be defined as the path (locus) of a point moving so that its distance from a fixed line (the directrix) is equal to its distance from a fixed point (the focus).

      The vertex of the parabola is the point on the curve that is closest to the directrix; it is equidistant from the directrix and the focus. The vertex and the focus determine a line, perpendicular to the directrix, that is the axis of the parabola. The line through the focus parallel to the directrix is the latus rectum (straight side). The parabola is symmetric about its axis, moving farther from the axis as the curve recedes in the direction away from its vertex. Rotation of a parabola about its axis forms a paraboloid (q.v.).

      The parabola is the path, neglecting air resistance and rotational effects, of a projectile thrown outward into the air. The parabolic shape also is seen in certain bridges, forming arches.

      For a parabola the axis of which is the x axis and with vertex at the origin, the equation is y2 = 2px, in which p is the distance between the directrix and the focus.

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Universalium. 2010.

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