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ERIC Number: EJ961088
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Sep
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0746-8342
EISSN: N/A
From the Dance of the Foci to a Strophoid
Jobbings, Andrew
College Mathematics Journal, v42 n4 p289-298 Sep 2011
The intersection of a plane and a cone is a conic section and rotating the plane leads to a family of conics. What happens to the foci of these conics as the plane rotates? A classical result gives the locus of the foci as an oblique strophoid when the plane rotates about a tangent to the cone. The analogous curve when the plane intersects a cylinder, in which case all the sections are ellipses, is a right strophoid. This article discusses both results and provides elementary geometric proofs. Rotation about a different axis, such as one meeting the axis of the cone or cylinder, gives a very different curve. We consider how the resulting curve relates to the classical one by analyzing the family of curves obtained as the axis of rotation moves.
Mathematical Association of America. 1529 Eighteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-741-9415; Tel: 202-387-5200; Fax: 202-387-1208; e-mail: maahq@maa.org; Web site: http://www.maa.org/pubs/cmj.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A