eccentriciteten

Eccentricity is a measure of how much a conic section deviates from being circular. It is a dimensionless quantity that characterizes the shape of an ellipse, parabola, or hyperbola. In the context of an ellipse, eccentricity is defined as the ratio of the distance between the center and the focus (focal distance) to the distance between the center and a vertex (semi-major axis). This value ranges from 0 to 1, where 0 indicates a perfect circle, and values closer to 1 indicate a more elongated ellipse. For a parabola, the eccentricity is exactly 1, and for a hyperbola, it is greater than 1. Eccentricity is a fundamental parameter in the study of conic sections and has applications in various fields, including astronomy, engineering, and physics. It provides a quantitative way to describe the shape and properties of these curves, making it a valuable concept in mathematical and scientific analyses.