Circles and PiConics

Collectively, these four shapes are called conic sections. Even though they all look very different, they are closely related: in fact, they can all be generated using the same equation!

Conic sections were first studied by the ancient Greek mathematician Apollonius of Perga, who also gave them their unusual names.

In later courses, you’ll learn much more about parabolas and hyperbolas. For now, let’s have a closer look at the ellipse.