equation of an ellipse in rectangular form?
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equation of an ellipse in rectangular form?
Just to be convenient, let @ represent the Greek letter theta...
When using polar coordinates, the polar equation of the an elliptical
orbit can be written in the form
a(1-e^2)
r = ___________
1-e cos @
a = semimajor axis of orbit in AU (in my case, 1.5237)
e = eccentricity (in my case, 0.09337)
How would I write this in the rectangular form
x^2 y^2
_____ + ______ = 1
a^2 b^2
with major vertices at (plus or minus a, 0), c = ae, and b^2 = a^2 - c^2
?
Would ( x^2 / 1.5237^2 ) + (y^2 / 1.517^2 ) be sufficient?
Also, when graphing the rectangular equation, do I graph it as a
function?
Thank you!
Please reply to pickle@bellatlantic.net