'e' i.e., eccentricity..whatz that?
2006-08-04 17:44:46 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
In mathematics, eccentricity is a parameter associated with every conic section. It can be thought of as a measure of how much the conic section deviates from being circular. In particular,
The eccentricity of a circle =0 .
0 < eccentricity of an ellipse <1.
The eccentricity of a parabola is 1.
eccentricity of a hyperbola > 1.
The eccentricity of a straight line = ∞
eccentricity = √1 - K (b² / a²)
Where (a) is the length of the semimajor axis of the section, (b) the length of the semiminor axis, and k is equal to +1 for an ellipse, 0 for a parabola, and -1 for a hyperbola.
2006-08-04 19:49:40 · answer #1 · answered by M. Abuhelwa 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A circle is just a special case of an ellipse (both focii are at the same location). Planets can have a circular orbit: its just that all in the solar system have elliptical ones. Elliptical orbits are bound to be much more common because there are an infinite variety of ellipses which provide orbital motion for a given planet, but only one circle
2016-03-26 23:45:32 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
See the Wikipedia reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellipse#Eccentricity
2006-08-04 17:50:46 · answer #3 · answered by rscanner 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
a circle has eccentricity of 0
a eclipse has eccentricity defined as (SQRT(a^2-b^2))/a, where a is the semimajor axis and b is the semiminor axis. this limits the eccentricity to between 0 and 1.
2006-08-04 18:21:10 · answer #4 · answered by angyansheng65537 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's how squished a circle is.
2006-08-04 18:47:33 · answer #5 · answered by Purechild 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
it is the measure of how "stretched" a circle is
2006-08-04 17:48:29 · answer #6 · answered by roadtrip088 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋