Page 7 - LESSON NOTES

Two standard forms of ellipse

Hyperbola

A hyperbola is the set of all points in a plane, the difference of whose distances from two fixed
points in the plane is a constant.

Note: The two fixed points are called the foci of the hyperbola. The mid-point of the line
segment joining the foci is called the centre of the hyperbola. The line through the foci is called
the transverse axis and the line through the centre and perpendicular to the transverse axis is
called the conjugate axis. The points at which the hyperbola intersects the transverse axis are
called the vertices of the hyperbola.