Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T12:25:11.423Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

What is the matter with negative r?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 November 2021

Douglas Quadling*
Affiliation:
12 Archway Court, Barton Road, Cambridge CB3 9LW

Extract

Soon after the publication of the new edition of the SMP booklet Formulae for advanced mathematics with statistical tables, I received a letter from a colleague objecting to the statement that

“If the origin is taken at a focus of the conic,…, then the equation of the conic has the form

where e is the eccentricity …”

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Mathematical Association 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)