Professional Documents
Culture Documents
22
INTRODUCTION:
A conic is a curve obtained as the intersection of a plane, called the cutting plane, with the
surface of a double cone (a cone with two nappes). It is usually assumed that the cone is a
right circular cone for the purpose of easy description, but this is not required; any double
cone with some circular cross-section will suffice.
Planes that pass through the vertex of the cone will intersect the cone in a point, a line, or a
pair of intersecting lines. These are called degenerate conics and some authors do not
consider them to be conics at all. Unless otherwise stated, “conic” in this article will refer to a
non-degenerate conic.
HYPERBOLA
-A hyperbola is a conic section that is formed when a plane at an angle intersects a double-
napped cone.
-Hyperbolas are conic sections formed when a plane intersects a pair of cones. For the
hyperbola to be formed, the plane has to intersect both bases of the cones. Hyperbolas are
made up of two branches that are shaped like a parabola. We have a vertex and a focus in
each branch, which serve to define the hyperbola. We also have two asymptotes, which
define the shape of the branches.
The point of intersection of the asymptotes is the center of the hyperbola. Hyperbolas
appear on various objects in real life. We can find hyperbolic figures in architecture, in
various buildings and structures. We also find hyperbolas in the sonic boom of airplanes
and even in the shape of the cooling towers of nuclear plants.
PARTS OF A HYPERBOLA:
Foci of hyperbola: The hyperbola has two foci and their coordinates are F(c, o), and F'(-c,
0).
Center of Hyperbola: The midpoint of the line joining the two foci is called the center of the
hyperbola.
Major Axis: The length of the major axis of the hyperbola is 2a units.
Minor Axis: The length of the minor axis of the hyperbola is 2b units.
Vertices: The points where the hyperbola intersects the axis are called the vertices. The
vertices of the hyperbola are (a, 0), (-a, 0).
Latus Rectum of Hyperbola: The latus rectum is a line drawn perpendicular to the
transverse axis of the hyperbola and is passing through the foci of the hyperbola. The length
of the latus rectum of the hyperbola is 2b2/a.
Transverse Axis: The line passing through the two foci and the center of the hyperbola is
called the transverse axis of the hyperbola.
Conjugate Axis: The line passing through the center of the hyperbola and perpendicular to
the transverse axis is called the conjugate axis of the hyperbola.
1. GUITAR
We all love to play the guitar, but have any of you ever thought about the shape of your
guitar? Well, most guitarists say that guitars are hyperbola. This sounds legit, but is guitar a
hyperbola? Well, this is the question that confuses most of us, and there are people who still
do not know its answers.
Briefly speaking, a guitar is the perfect example of a hyperbola. If you look at the cures on
the sides of a guitar, they will portray a perfect hyperbola. The curve of the guitar going
outwards is what we see in a hyperbola. So, it is true that the guitar is a hyperbola.
A good reason is that the guitars in the old times were made by men, for men, the shape
allows them to cradle the guitar similar to a woman’s body.
The curves allow a guitar to fit perfectly in your lap, and you play all the frets and strings
with ease. Now, imagine you have a square-shaped guitar, and you want to learn how to play
it. It will be hard
A square-shaped guitar will not fit in your hands perfectly, and learning about it will be
harder than any other thing on earth.
This is why the hyperbolic shape of a guitar is so important. Without it, you’ll not be able to
learn guitar quickly and easily.
-The Kobe Port Tower is a hyperbolic telecommunications tower in Kobe, Japan. It has a
cross section that is a hyperbola. The height of the tower is 108 meters and the narrowest
point is 65.5 meters above the ground. At that narrowest point the tower is only 8.2 meters
wide. The diameter of the base of the tower is 25 meters. Use this information to place a
hyperbola in a coordinate system and reason out its equation. Show all work on this page.
3. Cooling Towers
The hyperboloid shape of cooling towers helps to cool the working fluid down to a low
temperature by releasing vapors into the atmosphere through the opening at the top of the
tower. The shape also helps to facilitate aerodynamic lift and faster and more efficient
diffusion into the atmosphere.
While driving through the countryside, you have likely laid your eyes on a number of
factories and industrial plants. Without a doubt, the enormity of those structures is
overwhelming, but does present viewers with a picturesque vista. Out of these installments,
the one feature that always seems to stand out is the cooling tower – a tall chimney that issues
a white (or sometimes blackish) smoke. Many cooling towers are made in a specific
cylindrical shape; their base is wide, they narrow at the middle, and become broad again at
the top. This shape is called “hyperboloid”.
first and foremost, the hyperboloid shape impacts the strength of the entire structure. Since
cooling towers are supposed to cool the working fluid down to a low temperature, they
release vapors into the atmosphere through the opening at the top of the tower. Therefore,
these towers have to be sufficiently tall (they can be as tall as 200 meters!), or else the
released vapor may cause fogging or recirculation. To support such a high structure, it is
extremely important that the base is considerably consolidated and spread over a large area so
that it can support the tall, heavy structure above it. This is why cooling towers have a large,
circular base.
-The hyperboloid is the standard design for all nuclear power plant cooling towers and
some coal-fired power plants. These towers are structurally efficient and can be built with
straight steel girders.
3. Dulles Airport
-Dulles Airport, designed by Eero Saarinen, is in the shape of a hyperbolic paraboloid. The
hyperbolic paraboloid is a three- dimensional curve that is a hyperbola in one cross-section,
and a parabola in another cross section.
4. SONIC BOOM
-As an airplane moves faster than the speed of sound, a cone-shaped wave is formed. The
part of the cone that intersects the ground is a hyperbola. The sonic boom hits every point
on that curve at the same time. No sound is heard outside the curve. The hyperbola is
known as the “sonic boom curve .”