Parabola

A Parabola is a Conic Section and describes the path (or trajectory) taken by a ball as it is thrown in the air.

An important characteristic of a parabola-shaped reflector is that any beam of light, sound or other energy which enters travelling parallel to its main axis is reflected through a single point called its focus. Conversely, light that originates from a point source at the focus is reflected into a parallel beam. This makes parabolic forms (i.e. parabloids) very useful for microphones and spotlight reflectors for example.

Parabolas can be drawn as the graph of y=x² but there are other ways of drawing a parabola which exploit its various mathematical properties.

Drawing a Parabola within a Rectangle	-	A parabola may be drawn by first constructng a rectangle and dividing into 2 as shown. Divide half of the base and the height into the same number of equal parts. Number the divisions from outside the rectangle to the its centre on the base (i.e. left to right) and bottom to top on the side. Draw vertical lines through all the divisions along the base then radial lines from the top centre (which will become the Vertex) to each of the vertical divisions to intersect them - i.e. Point 1 is where vertical Line 1 is intersected by Radial line 1. Repeat the process for the right hand half of the parabola but note that the base divisions will now be numbered right to left.	File:Parabola2.jpg
Curve Stitching	-	Curve Stitching (or String Art) is a craft technique used to create patterns from parabolas and other curves by sewing threads between points along two intersecting lines. The technique was invented by Mary Everest Boole at the end of the 19th Century to make maths more interesting to children and became very popular during the 1960's to decorate gift cards for example.	File:Parabola3.jpg
Using measured Abscissae	-	A property of the parabola is that the abscissa, that part of a diameter of a conic between its vertex and an ordinate, is ‘proportional to the product of the parts into which it divides the double ordinate’. So, start by drawing a horizontal ordinate, say 4 units long, then doubling it to become a line 8 units long. Number equi-spaced divisions on the double ordinate, say 0 to 8, and back again as shown. Set the height of the parabola vertex as required, and divide this into the same number of units as the ordinate (i.e. 4 in this example). The height of each Abscissa is given in vertically scaled units as the products of the two numbers that result - i.e. 0x8, 1x7, 2x6, etc.	File:Parabola1.jpg

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Note: Parabolas may also be drawn by more precise methods and the position of the Focus given. Tangents and Normals may also be drawn if needed - see Conic Sections for more details.

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