help!!!
2007-01-11 04:11:11 · 2 answers · asked by britt77016 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
Parabola is a conic section. Take a right circular conical surface and give it a cut parallel to a generating straight line of that surface (inclined cut, one edge is a side on the base). You can have a hyperbola with a cut perpendicular to the base, and an ellipse with an inclined cut that does not touch the base.
2007-01-11 04:34:49 · answer #1 · answered by supersonic332003 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The shape of a parabola can be seen as the intersection of a plane and a cone such that the plane is parallel to an element of the surface and cuts all other elements on one side of the cone's vertex, then the section is a parabola.
If the plane were perpendicular to the axis of the cone, the section would be a circle.
2007-01-11 04:37:19 · answer #2 · answered by ironduke8159 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋