The Parabola Construction on a Sphere

Most geometry teachers know how to construct a parabola when given a focus and a directrix. Below we see the same parabola construction performed on a sphere. The [color=#006600]GREEN[/color] point is the focus. The [color=#0000FF]BLUE[/color] great circle is the directrix. The small [color=#FF0000]RED[/color] point is the point that traces the parabola.

 

Steve Phelps

 
Resource Type
Activity
Tags
modspar 
Target Group (Age)
14 – 18
Language
English (United States)
 
 
 
© 2024 International GeoGebra Institute