TITLE

Teaching Of Upper Secondary Mathematics Part III

INTRODUCTION
This study was done in order to understand the conics as well as their way of approaches as
there are many different types of conics. Objectives of this paper is to find out a more
convenient way of answering different types of conic sections or also known as conics which
can be exposed to the students in order to help them to understand it better.

MEANINGS OF PARABOLA, ELLIPSE AND HYPERBOLA

Parabola, ellipse and hyperbola are the result from intersecting a cone with a plane as shown
in Figure 1. Even all of them are resulted from the intersection of cone with a plane, but all of
them are different in terms of meaning which causing them to have different way of
calculation.

Figure 1: Source from Thomson Brooks-Cole

i)

Parabola
A parabola is a curve that is oriented either up, down, left, or right. A parabola is
the set of points in a plane that are equidistant from a fixed point F which also
called as focus and a fixed line which also called as directrix. This definition is
illustrated by Figure 2.

Figure 2: Source from Thomson Brooks-Cole

Notice that the point halfway between the focus F and the directrix lies on the
parabola which called as vertex. The vertex of the parabola is at (h,k). The line
through the focus perpendicular to the directrix l is called the axis of the parabola.
In the equation the h value added or subtracted to x moves the parabola left and
right. If you subtract the value of h the parabola moves to the right. If you add the
value of h the parabola moves to the left. The parabola can be made skinnier and
wider by changing the value of a in the equation. If a is a whole number the
parabola will become skinnier; if its a fraction the parabola will become wider.
When you add or subtract a value of k the parabola moves up or down by the
value. Parabolas are symmetrical across the line through the vertex of the
parabola. The equation of parabola are:

The parabola with focus F and directrix l is the locus of points P in the plane
whose distances to F and l are equal:

|PF| = dist(P; l):

A parabola has an axis of symmetry- the perpendicular from F to l- and a
vertex, the point on this axis halfway between F and l. Only one geometric
parameter affects the shape of a parabola: the distance d from F to l.

ii)

Ellipses
An ellipse is the set of points in a plane the sum of whose distances from two
fixed points F1 and F2 is a constant as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Source from Thomson Brooks-Cole

These two fixed points are called the foci. One of Keplers laws is that the orbits
of the planets in the solar system are ellipses with the Sun at one focus. The center
of the ellipse is at (h, k). The radius of ellipses are not a constant distance from
the center. To find the distance to the curve from the center you have to find the
distance from the center to the curve for the x and y separately, these points are
called vertices. The vertices are on the major axis and minor axis. The major axis
is the longer axis and the minor axis is the shorter axis through the center of the
ellipse. To find the distance from the center in the x direction you take the square
root of a2. To find the distance from the center in the y direction you take the
square root of b2. You then will have two points on the x direction and two points
in the y direction and you use these four points to draw your ellipse. Ellipses are
symmetrical across both of there axis's. The equation of ellipses are:

iii)

Hyperbola
A hyperbola is the set of all points in a plane the difference of whose distances
from two fixed points F1 and F2 (the foci) is a constant. This definition is
illustrated in Figure 4. Hyperbolas occur frequently as graphs of equations in
chemistry, physics, biology and economics (Boyles Law, Ohms Law, supply and
demand curves). A particularly significant application of hyperbola is found in the
navigation systems developed in World Wars I and II. Hyperbolas look like two
parabolas opening in opposite directions. The equations of the asymptotes are y=
k + (b/a)(x-h). The asymptotes help you to graph the hyperbola. The centre of the
hyperbola is also at (h, k). The vertices of the hyperbola depend on whether the

hyperbolas open left and right or up and down. You can determine which way the
hyperbola opens by looking to see if the x or y term has a negative sign. In the
equation in the upper left corner the y term has the negative and since the y has
the negative the hyperbolas open left and right. When opening left and right the
vertices are (h+a, k). For the equation in the upper right corner the x value has the
negative sign which means that the hyperbola opens up and down. The vertices for
an equation that opens up and down are (h, k+b). A hyperbola is the set of all
points in a plane the difference of whose distances from two fixed points F 1 and F2
(the foci) is a constant. This definition is illustrated in Figure 4. Hyperbolas occur
frequently as graphs of equations in chemistry, physics, biology and economics
(Boyles Law, Ohms Law, supply and demand curves). A particularly significant
application of hyperbola is found in the navigation systems developed in World
Wars I and II. The equation of hyperbola are:

SUMMARY OF ARTICLES
Three different articles are saying the same meaning of parabola, ellipses and hyperbola.
However, they are promoting different ways of answering as there are many types of
questions that could be given. Even so, the movement of axis and how it affects the final
result of calculation are the same for all three articles as there are still using the basic concept
of parabola, ellipses and hyperbola.
As for parabola, it is advisable to first compare the given equation to the standard
equation. As an example:
Graph the following equation of the parabola.
Y= 2(x+2)2 + 1
For the above equation find the following before graphing the equation

The vertex of the parabola.

Is the parabola skinnier or wider then a standard parabola.

What way does the parabola open?

The way of solving are as follows:

1. First we look at the equation compared to the standard parabola equation. Y=2(x+2)2
+1 Y=a (x + h)2 + k. So a = 2, h = 2, and k = 1.
2. By looking at the equation the vertex of this equation is (-2, 1).
3. We know that a = 2 which is a whole number and whole numbers make the parabola
skinner. We also know that since a is positive and that the equation equals y that the
parabola will open up.
4. To graph the equation the first thing that we do is plot the vertex of the parabola.
5. Next we need to pick a value of x that is an equal distance from the center to solve for
y. these two y values should be the same since the parabola is symmetrical through the
center. Lets use x=-3 and x=-1. So for x=-3, y=2(-3+2)2+1 = 3 and for x=-1, y= 2(1+2)2+1= 3. So we have the points (-3,3) and (-1,3).
6.

Next we pick at least two more values of x to find values of ys for to be able to
graph the parabola accurately. Lets use x = -4 and x= 0. So for x = -4, y = 2(-4+2)2+1
= 2(-2)2+1= 9 and for x = 0, y = 2(0+2)2+1= 9. So we have the points (-4,9) and
(0,9).

7. Now we can graph the center of the parabola (-2,1) and the points that we have found
to lie on the parabola (-1,3), (-3,3), (-4,9), and (0,9).
8. Next we can connect the pints and continue the ends of the curve up to create the
parabola.
Meanwhile, for ellipses and hyperbola, in the first step, we compare the given equation
of the hyperbola with the standard equation to find the value of h, k, a, and b.
CONCLUSION
Students need to follow the proper step of calculation in based on the shape of conics.