Definition:Diameter of Ellipse
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This page is about Diameter of Ellipse. For other uses, see Diameter.
Definition
Let $\KK$ be an ellipse.
A diameter of $\KK$ is the locus of the midpoints of a system of parallel chords of $\KK$.
Also defined as
Some sources define the diameter of an ellipse $\KK$ as a chord of $\KK$ which passes through the center of $\KK$.
This is a perfectly adequate definition of a diameter of an ellipse.
However, the definition does not work so well in the context of:
- a hyperbola, as it does not encompass diameters which are not chords
- a parabola, which does not have a center.
Also see
- Results about diameters of conic sections can be found here.