Intro to Conic Sections

It all depends on how you slice it!

• Start with a cone:

IF we slice the cone, parallel to the base, what do we get?

A Circle!

IF we slice the cone at an angle, what do we get now?

An Ellipse!

IF we just take a slice from the lateral face of the cone, what do we get?

A Parabola!

Finally, let’s take a slice from the lateral face, perpendicular to the base

A Hyperbola!

These shapes are called Conic Sections. We can use Algebra to describe the equations and graphs of these

shapes.