Page 1 of 9

PROJECT

ON

PROPERTIES AND APPLICATION

OF
PARABOLA AND ELLIPSE

PREPARED

BY

PRATAP C SAHA
A.T. MURAGACHHA HIGH ( H.S.) SCHOOL

PROJECT ON PROPERTIES AND APPLICATION OF PARABOLA AND ELLIPSE PREPARED BY PRATAP C SAHA A.T. MURAGACHHA HIGH ( H.S.) SCHOOL
 Page 2 of 9

PARABOLA
PROPERTIES AND APPLICATIONS

HISTORY

The parabola was studied by Menaechmus who was a pupil of Plato

and Eudoxus. He attempted to duplicate the cube, namely to find side
of a cube that has a volume double that of a given cube. Hence he
3
attempted to solve x = 2 by geometrical methods.
In fact the geometrical methods of ruler and compass constructions
cannot solve this (but Menaechmus did not know this). Menaechmus
2 2
solved it by finding the intersection of the two parabolas x = y and y =
2x.
Euclid wrote about the parabola and it was given its present name by
Apollonius. The focus and directrix of a parabola were considered by
Pappus.
Pascal considered the parabola as a projection of a circle and Galileo
Parabolic compass designed by Leonardo da
showed that projectiles follow parabolic paths.
Vinci
The parabolic trajectory of projectiles was discovered experimentally
by Galileo in the early 17th century, who performed experiments with
balls rolling on inclined planes. He also later proved this
mathematically in his book Dialogue Concerning Two New Sciences.
Gregory and Newton considered the properties of a parabola which
bring parallel rays of light to a focus. The idea that a parabolic reflector
could produce an image was already well known before the invention of
the reflecting telescope. Designs were proposed in the early to mid
seventeenth century by many mathematicians including René
Descartes, Marin Mersenne, and James Gregory. When Isaac Newton
built the first reflecting telescope in 1668 he skipped using a parabolic
mirror because of the difficulty of fabrication, opting for a spherical
mirror. Parabolic mirrors are used in most modern reflecting telescopes
and in satellite dishes and radar receivers.

DEFINITION

A parabola is the set of all points in the plane

equidistant from a given line L (the conic section
directrix) and a given point F not on the line (the
focus).

The focal parameter (i.e., the distance between the

directrix and focus) is therefore given by p = 2a ,
where a is the distance from the vertex to the
directrix or focus. The surface of revolution
obtained by rotating a parabola about its axis of
symmetry is called a paraboloid.

In the graph,

• The focus of the parabola is at (a,0).

• The directrix is the line x = -a.
• The focal distance is `|a|` (Distance from the
origin to the focus and from the origin to the
directrix. We take absolute value because
distance is positive.)
• The point (x, y) represents any point on the
curve.

The distance d from any point (x, y) to the focus Parabola as conic
`(a, 0)` is the same as the distance from (x, y) to section.
the directrix.

PROJECT ON PROPERTIES AND APPLICATION OF PARABOLA AND ELLIPSE PREPARED BY PRATAP C SAHA A.T. MURAGACHHA HIGH ( H.S.) SCHOOL
 Page 3 of 9
EQUATIONS OF PARABOLA

F(0 , a )

F(a , 0 ) F(- a , 0 )
F(0 , - a )

2 2 2 2
y = 4ax y = - 4ax x = 4ay x = - 4ay

The general equation of PARABOLA derived from the general conic equation is :
2 2
Ax + Bxy + Cy + Dx + Ey + F = 0
2
and the fact that, for a parabola, B = 4AC

The equation for a general parabola with a focus point F(u, v) , and a directrix in the form
ax + by + c = 0 is

PROPERTIES OF PARABOLA

Reflective property of a parabola

The reflective property states that, if a parabola can reflect light,

then light which enters it travelling parallel to the axis of symmetry
is reflected to the focus.

Tangent bisection property

The diagram shows that the tangent BE bisects the angle FEC. In
other words, the tangent to the parabola at any point bisects the
angle between the lines joining the point to the focus, and
perpendicularly to the directrix.

Intersection of a tangent and perpendicular from focus

The point of intersection between any tangent to a parabola and

the perpendicular from the focus to that tangent lies on the line
that is tangential to the parabola at its vertex.

Orthoptic property

If two tangents to a parabola are perpendicular to each other, then

they intersect on the directrix. Conversely, two tangents which
intersect on the directrix are perpendicular.

Perpendicular tangents intersect on the

directrix

PROJECT ON PROPERTIES AND APPLICATION OF PARABOLA AND ELLIPSE PREPARED BY PRATAP C SAHA A.T. MURAGACHHA HIGH ( H.S.) SCHOOL
 Page 4 of 9
Lambert's theorem

Three tangents to a parabola form a triangle. Then Lambert's

theorem states that the focus of the parabola lies on the
circumcircle of the triangle.

THE USES AND APPLICATIONS OF PARABOLAS

The parabolic reflector, which is a mirror or similar reflective device that concentrates light or other forms of
electromagnetic radiation to a common focal point, or conversely, collimates light from a point source at the
focus into a parallel beam. The principle of the parabolic reflector may have been discovered in the 3rd century
BC by the geometer Archimedes, who, according to a legend of debatable veracity, constructed parabolic mirrors
to defend Syracuse against the Roman fleet, by concentrating the sun's rays to set fire to the decks of the
Roman ships. The principle was applied to telescopes in the 17th century.

The principle of parabolic reflector is used for the car headlight,

torches etc. The light is placed in the focus of a parabolic mirror,
as the light travels and meets the mirror, it is reflected in lines
parallel to the axis (in straight lines ) as can be seen in the
diagram. This is why the light beam from the headlights of cars
and from torches is so strong.

How Parabolic Dish Antennas work?

Point M is the point at which the ray hits the parabolic dish. “I” is
the angle made by the incident ray and the normal (in red) which
is perpendicular to the tangent (in blue) to the parabola at point M.
r is the angle made by the reflected ray and the normal. According
to the laws of reflection, angles “I” and “R” are equal.
All reflected rays due to incident rays, at different positions,
intercept the axis of the parabola y axis) at the same.

In parabolic microphones, a parabolic reflector that reflects sound, but not necessarily electromagnetic radiation,
is used to focus sound onto a microphone, giving it highly directional performance.
Solar cooker with parabolic reflector

PARABOLIC SKIS

A conventional ski which begins with a circular side-cut will deform

under load to a less than perfect arc. The parabolic design will
deform under load to a perfect arc resulting in a smooth turn. The
result is that the ski only has to be tipped on edge to turn
flawlessly with a minimum of skier exertion.

NATURAL OCCURRING PHENOMENA

A jet of water, like that formed by a fountain, forms the shape of a

parabola.
When a ball is struck in the air, it travels along a path in the shape
of a parabola.

PROJECT ON PROPERTIES AND APPLICATION OF PARABOLA AND ELLIPSE PREPARED BY PRATAP C SAHA A.T. MURAGACHHA HIGH ( H.S.) SCHOOL
 Page 5 of 9
Paraboloids are also observed in the surface of a liquid confined
to a container and rotated around the central axis. In this case,
the centrifugal force causes the liquid to climb the walls of the
container, forming a parabolic surface. This is the principle behind
the liquid mirror telescope.
Shown here is a rectangular container with fluid inside, the
container is placed on a rotating table, when the table rotates the
fluid inside take the shape of a parabola.

In all cases in the physical world, the trajectory is always an

approximation of a parabola. The presence of air resistance, for
example, always distorts the shape, although at low speeds, the
shape is a good approximation of a parabola. At higher speeds,
such as in ballistics, the shape is highly distorted and does not
resemble a parabola.

Long-period comets travel close to the Sun's escape velocity

while they are moving through the inner solar system, so their
paths are close to being parabolic.
The path of Comet Kohoutek as it passed through the inner solar
system, showing its nearly parabolic shape. The other orbit is the
Earth's

PROJECT ON PROPERTIES AND APPLICATION OF PARABOLA AND ELLIPSE PREPARED BY PRATAP C SAHA A.T. MURAGACHHA HIGH ( H.S.) SCHOOL
 Page 6 of 9

ELLIPSE
PROPERTIES AND APPLICATIONS

HISTORY
The ellipse was first studied by Menaechmus. Euclid wrote about the ellipse and it was given its
present name by Apollonius.
The focus and directrix of an ellipse were considered by Pappus.
Kepler, in 1602, said he believed that the orbit of Mars was oval, then he later discovered that it
was an ellipse with the sun at one focus. In fact Kepler introduced the word "focus" and published
his discovery in 1609. The eccentricity of the planetary orbits is small (i.e. they are close to
circles). The eccentricity of Mars is 1/11 and of the Earth is 1/60.
In 1705 Halley showed that the comet, which is now called after him, moved in an elliptical orbit
round the sun. The eccentricity of Halley's comet is 0.9675 so it is close to a parabola.
The area of the ellipse is πab. There is no exact formula for the length of an ellipse in

Ellipse as conic section elementary functions and this led to the study of elliptic functions. Ramanujan, in 1914, gave the
approximate length π(3(a + b) - √[(a + 3b)(3a + b)]).

DEFINITION
In Euclidean geometry, the ellipse is usually defined as the
bounded case of a conic section, or as the set of points such
that the sum of the distances to two fixed points (the foci) is
B1
constant.
The ellipse can also be defined as the set of points such that
the distance from any point in that set to a given point in the
plane (a focus) is a constant positive fraction less than 1 (the
eccentricity) of the perpendicular distance of the point in the set A2 A1
to a given line (called the directrix).
Yet another equivalent definition of the ellipse is that it is the
set of points that are equidistant from one point in the plane (a
focus) and a particular circle, the directrix circle (whose center is B2
the other focus).
Ellipses have two mutually perpendicular axes A 1 A 2 and B 1 B 2
about which the ellipse is symmetric These axes intersect at the
center C of the ellipse due to this symmetry. The larger of these
two axes, which corresponds to the largest distance between
antipodal points on the ellipse, is called the Major axis or
Transverse diameter .
The smaller of these two axes, and the smallest distance across
the ellipse, is called the Minor axis or Conjugate diameter .
The four points where these axes cross the ellipse are the vertices and are marked as A 1 , A 2 , B 1 and B 2 . In
addition to being at the largest and smallest distance from the center, these points are where the curvature of
the ellipse is maximum and minimum.
The two foci (plural of focus and the term focal points is also used) of an ellipse are two special points F 1 and F 2
on the ellipse's major axis that are equidistant from the center point. The sum of the distances from any point P
on the ellipse to those two foci is constant and equal to the major axis (PF 1 + PF 2 = 2a).
The distance to the focal point from the center of the ellipse is sometimes called the linear eccentricity, f, of the
ellipse. Here it is denoted by f, but it is often denoted by c.
Due to the Pythagorean theorem and the definition of the ellipse explained in the previous paragraph:
2 2 2
f = a −b .
The eccentricity of an ellipse, usually denoted by ε or e, is the ratio of the distance between the two foci, to the
length of the major axis or e = 2f/2a = f/a. For an ellipse the eccentricity is between 0 and 1 (0 < e < 1). When
PROJECT ON PROPERTIES AND APPLICATION OF PARABOLA AND ELLIPSE PREPARED BY PRATAP C SAHA A.T. MURAGACHHA HIGH ( H.S.) SCHOOL
 Page 7 of 9
the eccentricity is 0 the foci coincide with the center point and the figure is a circle. As the eccentricity tends
toward 1, the ellipse gets a more elongated shape. It tends towards a line segment (see below) if the two foci
remain a finite distance apart and a parabola if one focus F 1 is kept fixed as the other F 2 is allowed to move
arbitrarily far away. The eccentricity is also equal to the ratio of the distance from any particular point P on an
ellipse to one of the foci F 2 to the perpendicular distance to the directrix from the same point (line PD),
e = PF 2 /PD.

EQUATIONS OF ELLIPSE

Ellipses centered at the origin

If the ellipse is centered on the origin (0,0) then the Cartesian equation is

And the parametric equations are x = a cos t

where a, b are the radius on the x and y axes respectively, t is the parameter, which ranges y = b sin t
from 0 to 2π radians.

The equations on this page are true only for ellipses that are aligned with the coordinate plane, that is, where the major and
minor axes are parallel to the coordinate system.

Ellipses not centered at the origin

If the Center of the ellipse is at ( h,k) then the Cartesian equation becomes

And the parametric equations are

x = h + a cos t
Where a, b are the radius on the x and y axes respectively, t is the parameter, which ranges y = k + b sin t
from 0 to 2π radians.
The equation for a general ELLIPSE with a focus point F(u, v) , a directrix in the form ax + by + c = 0 and
Eccentricity e (e<1) is e 2 (ax + by + c) 2 = (a 2 + b 2 )[(x – u) 2 + (y – v) 2 ] where 0<e<1

PROPERTIES OF ELLIPSE

Focal property

One of the definitions of ellipse is that it is a locus of points the

sum of whose distances from the given two points is constant.
The latter are called the foci of the ellipse. Under other
definitions, the distance preservation becomes a property, among
many others. As such, it is known as the Focal property of the
ellipse.

F 1 T + F 2 T = CONSTANT ( for any point T on the Ellipse)

Reflective (Optical) Property of an Ellipse

In an ellipse, lightrays from one focus will reflect to the other

focus .

PROJECT ON PROPERTIES AND APPLICATION OF PARABOLA AND ELLIPSE PREPARED BY PRATAP C SAHA A.T. MURAGACHHA HIGH ( H.S.) SCHOOL
 Page 8 of 9
Reflections in Ellipse

Choose two points T 1 , T 2 on an ellipse. Imagine a light source at

T 1 sending a ray of light in the direction of T 2 . Assuming the inner
surface of the ellipse fully reflective, the ray will bounce off at T 2
and reach the ellipse again at T 3 where it will bounce again and
then again at point T 4 and so on.

From Foci to a Tangent in Ellipse

The product of distances from the foci of an ellipse to any tangent

is a constant (not depending on the particular tangent.

Parallel Chords in Ellipse

Cross the ellipse by two parallel lines AB and CD, with points A,
B, C, D on the ellipse. Find the midpoints M and N of the
segments AB and CD. Line MN is incident to the center of the
ellipse. Therefore by choosing a pair of parallel lines with a
different direction, the center of the ellipse is found at the
intersection of the two midlines.

Pascal in Ellipse
Pascal's theorem which B. Pascal has famously discovered at
the age of 16 states that if a hexagon is inscribed in a conic, then
the three points at which the pairs of opposite sides meet are
collinear.
The universality of the diagram led to the introduction of the term
Pascal's Mystic Hexagram that stuck around.

La Hire's Theorem in Ellipse

Let there be two points A and B outside an ellipse. From points A

and B draw tangents AC, AD, BE, BF to the ellipse. Then if B lies
on CD, then A lies on EF

Gergonne in Ellipse

The lines joining the points of tangency of the incircle with the
opposing vertices of a triangle concur in a point known as the
Gergonne point or Gergonne's center.

PROJECT ON PROPERTIES AND APPLICATION OF PARABOLA AND ELLIPSE PREPARED BY PRATAP C SAHA A.T. MURAGACHHA HIGH ( H.S.) SCHOOL
 Page 9 of 9
THE USES AND APPLICATIONS OF ELLIPSE

The Reflective Property of an Ellipse

Now, apart from being mathematically interesting, what makes this
property so fascinating? Well, there are several reasons. Most
notable of which is its significance to physics, primarily optics and
acoustics. Both light and sound are affected in this way. In fact there
are many famous buildings designed to exploit this property. Such
buildings are referred to as whisper galleries or whisper chambers.
St. Paul's Cathedral in London, England was designed by architect and mathematician Sir Christopher Wren and
contains one such whisper gallery. Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capital building is elliptic. It was in this room that
John Quincy Adams, while a member of the House of Representatives, discovered this acoustical phenomenon.
He situated his desk at a focal point of the elliptical ceiling, easily eavesdropping on the private conversations of
other House members located near the other focal point. The effect that such a room creates is that if one
person is standing at one of the foci, a person standing at the other focus can hear even the slightest whisper
spoken by the other.

ELLIPTICAL BILLIARDS TABLE

The elliptical billiards table uses the same principle as the whispering
gallery above. The pocket is positioned at one of the focal points. If
one hits the ball so that it goes through one focus, it will reflect off the
ellipse and go into the hole which is located at the other focus.

SATELLITES
All the planets orbiting the sun are satellites. These planets do not
travel in a circular motion as many people believe they do, but they
travel in elliptical orbits. The eccentricity of the earths orbit around
the sun is approximately 0.0167, which is, as explained previously,
almost circular. The planet Pluto has an orbit with an eccentricity of
approximately 0.2481. The moon travels around the earth in an
elliptical orbit also and so too do man made satellites.
LITHOTRIPSY
Ellipses are used for a medical process called lithotripsy. If we
imagine an ellipse as being made from a reflective material, than a
ray emitted from one focus reflects off the ellipse and passes through
the second; a fact true for all forms of energy, including shockwaves.
In lithotripsy, which is the process of using ultrasound to shatter
kidney stones. The patient is placed in a elliptical tank of water, with
the kidney stone at one focus. High-energy shock waves generated at
the other focus are concentrated on the stone, pulverizing it.

Some tanks are in fact elliptical (not circular) in cross section. This
gives them a high capacity, but with a lower center-of-gravity, so that
they are more stable when being transported. And they're shorter, so
that they can pass under a low bridge. You might see these tanks
transporting heating oil or gasoline on the highway

Ellipses (or half-ellipses) are sometimes used as fins, or airfoils in

structures that move through the air. The elliptical shape reduces
drag.

PROJECT ON PROPERTIES AND APPLICATION OF PARABOLA AND ELLIPSE PREPARED BY PRATAP C SAHA A.T. MURAGACHHA HIGH ( H.S.) SCHOOL