This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Marj Tiefert (talk | contribs) at 15:43, 25 February 2002 (copyedit, and use html tags for sup's and variables). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 15:43, 25 February 2002 by Marj Tiefert (talk | contribs) (copyedit, and use html tags for sup's and variables)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)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 1.0
The eccentricity of a circle is zero.
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 useage, eccentricity refers to unusual or odd behavior on the part of a person.