| Revision as of 15:52, 13 June 2002 edit203.96.111.200 (talk)No edit summary← Previous edit | Revision as of 15:53, 13 June 2002 edit undo203.96.111.200 (talk)No edit summaryNext edit → | ||
| Line 17: | Line 17: | ||
| In ], eccentricity refers to the deviation of an object's orbital motion from a circular orbit, according to the mathematical formula given above. | In ], eccentricity refers to the deviation of an object's orbital motion from a circular orbit, according to the mathematical formula given above. | ||
| In popular |
In popular usage, eccentricity refers to unusual or odd behavior on the part of a person. | ||
Revision as of 15:53, 13 June 2002
In mathematics, eccentricity is a measure of how much an ellipse deviates from a circle.
To calculate the eccentricity of any ellipse, measure the semi-major axis and call it a. Measure the semi-minor axis and call that measurement b. Now:
- eccentricity = e = square root( (a - b)/a)
The eccentricity of an ellipse is greater than zero and smaller than 1
The eccentricity of a circle is zero.
The eccentricity of a parabola is 1.
The eccentricity of a hyperbola is greater than 1.
In astronomy, eccentricity refers to the deviation of an object's orbital motion from a circular orbit, according to the mathematical formula given above.
In popular usage, eccentricity refers to unusual or odd behavior on the part of a person.