What is meant by the eccentricity of a hyperbola?
1 Answer
Aug 30, 2015
The eccentricity of a hyperbola is the ratio of the distance from any point on the graph to (a) the focus and (b) the directrix.
Explanation:
A hyperbola is a curve where the distances of any point from a fixed point (the focus) and a fixed straight line (the directrix) are always in the same ratio.
This ratio is called the eccentricity
The equation for a hyperbola is:
The formula for eccentricity
The eccentricity measures the degree of opening of the branches of the hyperbola.
The greater the eccentricity, the more open the arms of the hyperbola.
