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DIAMETERS AND AXES OF

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Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 702 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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DIAMETERS AND AXES OF CONICS § 69. Diameters.—The theorems about the See also:

harmonic properties of poles and polars contain, as See also:special cases, a number of important metrical properties of conics. These are obtained if either the See also:pole or the polar is moved to infinity, it being remembered that the harmonic conjugate to a point at infinity, with regard to two points A, B, is the See also:middle point of the segment AB. The most important properties are stated in the following theorems: The middle points of parallel chords of a conic See also:lie in a line—viz. on the polar to the point at infinity on the parallel chords. This See also:line is called a See also:diameter. The polar of every point at infinity is a diameter. The tangents at the end points of a diameter are parallel, and are parallel to the chords bisected by the diameter. All diameters pass through a See also:common point, the pole of the line at infinity. All diameters of a See also:parabola are parallel, the pole to the line at infinity being the point where the See also:curve touches the line at infinity. In See also:case of the See also:ellipse and See also:hyperbola, the pole to the line at infinity is a finite point called the centre of the curve. A centre of a conic bisects every chord through it. The centre of an ellipse is within the curve, for the line at infinity does not cut the ellipse.

The centre of an hyperbola is without the curve, because the line at infinity cuts the curve. Hence also From the centre of an hyperbola two tangents can be See also:

drawn to the curve which have their point of contact at infinity. These are called Asymptotes (§ 59). To construct a diameter of a conic, draw two parallel chords and join their middle points. To find the centre of a conic, draw two diameters; their inter-See also:section will be the centre. § 70. Conjugate Diameters.—A polar-triangle with one vertex at the centre will have the opposite See also:side at infinity. The other two sides pass through the centre, and are called conjugate diameters, each being the polar of the point at infinity on the other. Of two conjugate diameters each bisects the chords parallel to the other, and if one cuts the curve, the tangents at its ends are parallel to the other diameter. Further Every parallelogram inscribed in a conic has its sides parallel to two conjugate diameters; and Every parallelogram circumscribed about a conic has as diagonals two conjugate diameters. This will be seen by considering the parallelogram in the first case as an inscribed four-point, in the other as a circumscribed four-side, and determining in each case the corresponding polar-triangle. The first may also be enunciated thus The lines which join any point on an ellipse or an hyperbola to the ends of a diameter are parallel to two conjugate diameters.

§ 71. If every diameter is perpendicular to its conjugate the conic is a circle. For the lines which join the ends of a diameter to any point on the curve include a right See also:

angle. A conic which has more than one pair of conjugate diameters at right angles to each other is a circle. Let AA' and BB' (fig. 24) be one pair of conjugate diameters at right angles to each other, CC' and DD' a second pair. If we draw through the end point A of one diameter a chord AP parallel to DD', and join P to A', then PA and PA' are, according to § 70, parallel to two conjugate diameters. But PA is parallel to DD', hence PA' is parallel to CC', and therefore PA and PA' are perpendicular. If we further draw the tangents to the conic at A and A', these will be perpendicular to AA', they being parallel to the conjugate diameter BB'. We know thus five points on the conic, viz. the points A and A' with their tangents, and the point P. Through these a circle may be drawn having AA' as diameter; and as through five points , one conic only can be drawn, this circle must coincide with the given conic. § 72.

Axes.—Conjugate diameters perpendicular to each other are called axes, and the points where they cut the curve vertices of the conic. In a circle every diameter is an See also:

axis, every point on it is a vertex; and any two lines at right angles to each other may be taken as a pair of axes of any circle which has its centre at their intersection. If we describe on a diameter AB of an ellipse or hyperbola a circle concentric to the conic, it will cut the latter in A and B (fig. 25). Each of the semicircles in which it is divided by AB will be partly within, partly without the curve, and must cut the latter therefore again in a point. The circle and the conic have thus four points A, B, C, D, and therefore one polar-triangle, in common (§ 68). Of this the centre is one vertex, for the line at infinity is the polar to this point, both with regard to the circle and the other conic. The other two sides are conjugate diameters of both, hence perpendicular to each other. This gives An ellipse as well as an hyperbola has one pair of axes. This reasoning shows at the same See also:time how to construct the axis of an ellipse or of an hyperbola. A parabola has one axis, if we define an axis as a diameter perpendicular to the chords which it bisects. It is easily constructed.

The line which bisects any two parallel chords is a diameter. Chords perpendicular to it will be bisected by a parallel diameter, and this is the axis. § 73. The first See also:

part of the right-See also:hand theorem in § 64 may be stated thus: any two conjugate lines through a point P without a conic are harmonic conjugates with regard to the two tangents that may be drawn from P to the conic. If we take instead of P the centre C of an hyperbola, then the conjugate lines become conjugate diameters, and the tangents asymptotes. Hence Any two conjugate diameters of an hyperbola are harmonic conjugates with regard to the asymptotes. As the axes are conjugate diameters at right angles to one another, it follows (§ 23) The axes of an hyperbola bisect the angles between the asymptotes. Let 0 be the centre of the hyperbola (fig. 26), t any secant which cuts the hyperbola in C,D and the asymptotes in E,F, then the line OM which bisects the chord CD is a diameter conjugate to the diameter OK which is parallel to the secant t, so that OK and OM are harmonic with regard to the asymptotes. The point M there-fore bisects EF. But by construction M bisects CD. It follows that DF=EC, and ED=CF; or On any secant of an hyperbola the segments between the curve and the asymptotes are equal.

If the chord is changed into a tangent, this gives The segment between the asymptotes on any tangent to an hyperbola is bisected by the point of contact. The first part allows a See also:

simple See also:solution of the problem to find any number of points on an hyperbola, of which the asymptotes and one point are given. This is See also:equivalent to three points and the tangents at two of them. This construction requires measurement. § 74. For the parabola, too, follow some metrical properties. A diameter PM (fig. 27) bisects every chord conjugate to it, and the pole P of such a chord BC lies on the diameter. But a diameter cuts the parabola once at infinity. Hence The segment PM which joins the middle point M of a chord of a parabola to the pole P of the chord is bisected by the parabola at A. § 75. Two asymptotes and any two tangents to an hyperbola may be considered as a See also:quadrilateral circumscribed about the Fin.

24. hyperbola. But in such a quadrilateral the intersections of the diagonals and the points of contact of opposite sides lie in a line (§ 54). If therefore DEFG (fig. 28) is such a quadrilateral, then the diagonals DF and GE will meet on the line which joins the points of contact of the asymptotes, that is, on the line at infinity; hence they are parallel. From this the following theorem is a simple See also:

deduction: All triangles formed by a tangent and the asymptotes of an hyperbola are equal in See also:area. If we draw at a point P (fig. 28) on an hyperbola a tangent, the part HK between the asymptotes is bisected at P. The parallelogram PQOQ' formed by the asymptotes and lines parallel to them through P will be See also:half the triangle OHK, and will therefore be See also:con- stant. If we now take the asymptotes OX and OY as oblique axes 0f co-ordinates, the lines OQ and QP will be the co-ordinates of P, and will satisfy the See also:equation xy=const.=See also:a2. For the asymptotes as axes of co-ordinates the equation of the hyperbola is xy=const. INVOLUTION § 76.

If we have two projective rows, See also:

ABC on u and A'B'C' on u', and See also:place their bases on the same line, then each point in this line See also:counts twice, once as a point in the See also:row u and once as a point in the row u'. In fig. 29 we denote the points as points in the one row by letters above the line A, B, C ..., and as points in the second row by A', B', C' . . below the B line. Let now A and B' be the same point, then to A will correspond a point A' in the second, row. In See also:general these points A' and B will be different. It may, however, happen that they coincide. Then the See also:correspondence is a See also:peculiar one, as the following theorem shows: If two projective rows lie on the same See also:base, and if it happens that to one point in the base the same point corresponds, whether we consider the See also:Vint as belonging to the first or to the second row, then the same will happen for every point in the base—that is to say, to every point in the line corresponds the same point in the first as in the second row. In See also:order to determine the correspondence, we may assume three pairs of corresponding points in two projective rows. Let then A', B', C', in fig. 30, correspond to A D 8 C A, B, C, so that A and B', and also B and A',, denote the same point. Let us further denote the point the first row by D ; then it is to 'be proved that the point D', which corresponds to D, is the same point as C.

We know that the See also:

cross-ratio of four points is equal to that of the corresponding row. Hence (AB, CD) = (A'B', C'D') but .replacing the dashed letters by those undashed ones which denote the same points, the second cross-ratio equals (BA, DD'), which, according to § 15, equals (AB, D'D) ; so that the equation becomes (AB, CD) = (AB, D'D). This requires that C and D' coincide. § 77. Two projective rows on the same base, which have the above See also:property, that to every point, whether it be considered as a point in the one or in the other row, corresponds the same point, are said to be in involution, or to See also:form an involution of points on the line. We mention, but without proving it, that any two projective rows may be placed so as to form an involution. An involution may be said to consist of a row of pairs of points, to every point A corresponding a point A', and to A' again the point A. These points are said to be conjugate, or, better, one point is termed the " See also:mate " of the other. From the See also:definition, according to which an involution may be considered as made up of two projective rows, follow at once the following important properties: 1. The cross-ratio of four points equals that of the four conjugate points. 2. If we See also:call a point which coincides with its mate a " See also:focus " or " See also:double point " of the involution, we may sa : An involution has either two foci, or one, or none, and is called respectively a hyperbolic, parabolic or elliptic involution (§ 34).

3. In a hyperbolic involution any two conjugate points are harmonic conjugates with regard to the two foci. For if A, A' be two conjugate points, Fl, See also:

F2 the two foci, then to the points Ft, F2, A, A' in the one row correspond the points Fl, F2, A', A in the other, each focus corresponding to itself. Hence (FIF2, AA') = (FIF2,A'A)—that is, we may interchange the two points AA' without altering the value of the cross-ratio, which is the characteristic property of harmonic conjugates (§ 18). 4. The point conjugate to the point at infinity is called the " centre " of the involution. Every involution has a centre, unless the point at infinity be a focus, in which case we may say that the centre is at infinity. In an hyperbolic involution the centre is the middle point between the foci. 5. The product of the distances of two conjugate points A, A' from the centre 0 is See also:constant : OA . OA' =c. For let A, A' and B, B' be two pairs of conjugate points, 0 the centre, I the point at infinity, then (AB, 0I) = (A'B', I0), or OA .

OA'=OB . OB'. In order to determine the distances of the foci from the centre, we write F for A and A' and get OF2=c; OF==-%Ic. Hence if c is See also:

positive OF is real, and has two values, equal and opposite. The involution is hyperbolic. If c=o, OF =o, and the two foci both coincide with the centre. If c is negative, -%l c becomes imaginary, and there are no foci. Hence we may write In an hyperbolic involution, OA . OA'=k2, In a parabolic involution, OA . OA'=o, In an elliptic involution, OA . OA' =-k2. From these expressions it follows that conjugate points A, A' in an hyperbolic involution lie on the same side of the centre, and in an elliptic involution on opposite sides of the centre, and that in a parabolic involution one coincides with the centre.

In the first case, for instance, OA . OA' is positive; hence OA and OA' have the same sign. It also follows that two segments, AA' and BB', between pairs of conjugate points have the following positions: in an hyperbolic involution they lie either one altogether within or altogether without each other; in a parabolic involution they have one point in common; and in an elliptic involution they overlap, each being partly within and partly without the other. See also:

Proof.—We have OA . OA' =0B . OB' = le in case of an hyperbolic involution. Let A and B be the points in each pair which are nearer to the centre O. If now A, A' and B, B' lie on the same side of 0, and if B is nearer to O than A, so that OB<OA, then OB' >0A'; hence B' lies farther away from 0 than A', or the segment AA' lies within BB'. And so on for the other cases. 6. An involution is determined (a) By two pairs of conjugate points. Hence also (13) By one pair of conjugate points and the centre; (7) By the two foci; (5) By one focus and one pair of conjugate points; (e) By one focus and the centre.

7. The See also:

condition that A, B, C and A', B', C' may form an in-volution may be written in one of the forms (AB, CC') _ (A'B', C'C), or (AB, CA') = (A'B', C'A), or (AB, C'A') _ (A'B', CA), for each expresses that in the two projective rows in which A, B, C A ' A' B' D' C' A' [PROJECTIVE 702 and A', B', C' are conjugate points two conjugate elements may be interchanged. 8. Any three pairs, A, A', B, B', C, C', of conjugate points are connected by the relations: AB'.BC'.CA' AB'.BC.C'A' AB.B'C'.CA' AB.B'C.C'A' A'B.B'C.C'AA'B.B'C'.CAA'B'.BC.C'AA'B'.BC'.CA--I' These relations readily follow by working out the relations in (7) (above). § 78. Involution of a quadrangle.—The sides of any four-point are cut by any line in six points in Involution, opposite sides being cut in conjugate points. Let AIBICID1 (fig. 31) be the four-point. If its sides be cut by the line p in the points A, A', B, B', C, C', if further, C1D1 cuts the line A1B1 in C2, and if we project the row AIBIC2C to p once from D1 and once from CI, we get (A'B', C'C) = (BA, C'C). Interchanging in the last cross-ratio the letters in each pair we get (A'B', C'C) _ (AB, CC'). Hence by § 77 (7) the points are in in-volution. The theorem may also be stated thus: The three points in which any line cuts the sides of a triangle and the projections, from any point in the See also:plane, of the vertices of the triangle on to the same line are six points in involution.

Or again The projections from any point on to any line of the six vertices base in the required point C' for OC.00'=OA.OA'. But EC and EC' are at right angles. Hence the involution which is obtained by joining E or E' to the points in the given involution is circular. This may also be ex-pressed thus: Every elliptical involution has the property that there are two definite points in the plane from which any two conjugate points are seen under a right angle. At the same time the following problem has been solved: To determine the centre and also the point corresponding to any given point in an elliptical involution conjugate points are given. § 81. Involution Range on a Conic.—By the aid of § 53, the points on a conic may be made to correspond to those on a line, so that the row of points on the conic is projective to a row of points on a line. We may also have two projective rows on the same conic, and these will be in involution as soon as one point on the conic has the same point corresponding to it all the same to whatever row it belongs. An involution of points on a conic will have the property (as follows from its definition, and from § 53) that the lines which join conjugate • points of the involution to any point on the conic are conjugate lines of an involution in a See also:

pencil, and that a fixed tangent is cut by the tangents at conjugate points on the conic in points which are again conjugate points of an involution on the fixed tangent. For such involution on a conic the following theorem holds: The lines which join corresponding points in an involution on a conic all pass through a fixed point; and reciprocally, the points of inter-section of conjugate lines in an involution among tangents to a conic lie on a line. We prove the first part only. The involution is determined by two pairs of conjugate points, say by A, A' and B, B' (fig.

33). Let AA' and BB meet in P. If we join the points in involution to any point on the conic, and the conjugate points to another point on the conic, we obtain two projective pencils. We take A and A' as centres of these pencils, so that the pencils A (A'B B') a n d A'(AB'B) are projective, and in See also:

perspective position, because AA' corresponds to A'A. Hence corresponding rays meet in a line, of which two points are found by joining AB' to A'B and AB to A'B'. It follows that the axis of perspective is the polar of the point P, where AA' and BB' meet. If we now wish to construct to any other point C on the conic the corresponding point C', we join C to A' and the point where this line cuts p to A. The latter line cuts the conic again in C'. But we know from the theory of pole and polar that the line CC' passes through P.

End of Article: DIAMETERS AND AXES OF

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