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For the analytic treatment, see
M4Lectures21.pdf.zip
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Chapter 4 Conics: start from page 23
Intersection of the cone with the plane: start from bottom of page 27
Example 52 Let $0<\theta, \alpha<\pi / 2$. Show that the intersection of the cone $x^{2}+y^{2}=z^{2} \cot ^{2} \alpha$ with the plane $z=\tan \theta(x-1)$ is an ellipse, parabola or hyperbola. Determine which type of conic arises in terms of $\theta$.
Solution We will denote as $C$ the intersection of the cone and plane. In order to properly describe $C$ we need to set up coordinates in the plane $z=\tan \theta(x-1)$. Note that
$$
\mathbf{e}_{1}=(\cos \theta, 0, \sin \theta), \quad \mathbf{e}_{2}=(0,1,0), \quad \mathbf{e}_{3}=(\sin \theta, 0,-\cos \theta),
$$
are mutually perpendicular unit vectors in $\mathbb{R}^{3}$ with $\mathbf{e}_{1}, \mathbf{e}_{2}$ being parallel to the plane and $\mathbf{e}_{3}$ being perpendicular to it. Any point $(x, y, z)$ in the plane can then be written uniquely as
$$
(x, y, z)=(1,0,0)+X \mathbf{e}_{1}+Y \mathbf{e}_{2}=(1+X \cos \theta, Y, X \sin \theta)
$$
for some $X, Y$, so that $X$ and $Y$ then act as the desired coordinates in the plane. Substituting the above expression for $(x, y, z)$ into the cone's equation $x^{2}+y^{2}=z^{2} \cot ^{2} \alpha$ gives
$$
(1+X \cos \theta)^{2}+Y^{2}=(X \sin \theta)^{2} \cot ^{2} \alpha
$$
This rearranges to
$$
\left(\cos ^{2} \theta-\sin ^{2} \theta \cot ^{2} \alpha\right) X^{2}+2 X \cos \theta+Y^{2}=-1
$$
If $\theta \neq \alpha$ then we can complete the square to arrive at
$$
\frac{\left(\cos ^{2} \theta-\sin ^{2} \theta \cot ^{2} \alpha\right)^{2}}{\sin ^{2} \theta \cot ^{2} \alpha}\left(X+\frac{\cos \theta}{\cos ^{2} \theta-\sin ^{2} \theta \cot ^{2} \alpha}\right)^{2}+\frac{\left(\cos ^{2} \theta-\sin ^{2} \theta \cot ^{2} \alpha\right)}{\sin ^{2} \theta \cot ^{2} \alpha} Y^{2}=1
$$
If $\theta<\alpha$ then the coefficients of the squares are positive and we have an ellipse while if $\theta>\alpha$ we have a hyperbola as the second coefficient is negative. If $\theta=\alpha$ then our original equation has become
$$
2 X \cos \theta+Y^{2}=-1
$$
which is a parabola. Further calculation shows that the eccentricity of the conic is $\sin \theta / \sin \alpha$.$■$ |
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