Vocab: Forces at a distance

Front

What is an ellipse?

Back

An ellipse is a geometric shape that looks like a flattened circle, defined as the set of points where the sum of the distances from two fixed points (foci) is constant.

Front

What is the major axis of an ellipse?

Back

The major axis is the longest diameter of an ellipse, passing through both foci and the center.

Front

What is the minor axis of an ellipse?

Back

The minor axis is the shortest diameter of an ellipse, perpendicular to the major axis at the center.

Front

Define anti-parallel in geometry.

Back

Anti-parallel refers to two lines or vectors that are parallel but point in opposite directions, making a 180-degree angle to a reference.

Front

Define perpendicular in geometry.

Back

Perpendicular refers to two lines or vectors that intersect at a right angle (90 degrees) to each other.

Front

What is a radius in geometry?

Back

The radius is the distance from the center of a circle or ellipse to any point on its circumference.

Front

What is the formula for the area of an ellipse?

Back

The area of an ellipse is given by the formula A = π * a * b, where 'a' is the semi-major axis and 'b' is the semi-minor axis.

Front

What is the relationship between the foci and the major axis in an ellipse?

Back

The foci of an ellipse lie along the major axis, and the distance from the center to each focus is less than the length of the semi-major axis.

Front

What is eccentricity in relation to an ellipse?

Back

Eccentricity is a measure of how much an ellipse deviates from being circular, calculated as e = c/a, where 'c' is the distance from the center to a focus and 'a' is the semi-major axis.

Front

What does it mean for two ellipses to have the same major axis?

Back

Two ellipses have the same major axis if they share the same length for their longest diameter, regardless of their shape or size.