Your Name: _______

Your Partner's Name:_______

Ellipse Activity
For this lab, youll need a piece of strin !or yarn, or dental floss" no more than # inches
lon, a couple thumbtac$s or tape, a ruler and a piece of paper% Youll learn ho& to dra&
an ellipse and some mathematical properties of ellipses%
'% (ecurely tac$ or tape t&o ends of the strin to the piece of paper% Allo& the strin a
little slac$ !for best results, the distance bet&een the strin ends should be bi and the
amount of slac$ should be small%"
)% *y placin the pencil tip near the strin, dra& an ellipse by tracin out all the possible
points &ith the strin pulled taut%
+% ,ar$ the location of the strin ends, and remove the strin% -hese t&o points are the
foci of the ellipse%
.% /se a straihtede to dra& a line sement connectin the t&o foci, and t&o points on
the ellipse% -his is the major axis% -he line sement from the center of the ellipse to one
of the t&o points on the ellipse !so half the ma0or a1is" is the semimajor axis.
2% 3arefully measure the distance bet&een the t&o foci and mar$ the point half&ay
bet&een them% -his is the center of the ellipse%
4% *y usin a riht anle !the ede of a post5it, the corner of a sheet of noteboo$ paper",
dra& the line sement throuh t&o points of the ellipse, the center of the ellipse, and
perpendicular to the ma0or a1is% -his is the minor axis.
6et a = the lenth of the semima0or a1is, b = the lenth of the semiminor a1is and c =
the distance from the center to a focus%
Enter the follo&in measurements7dont foret units8
a = _______
6enth of ma0or a1is:_____
c =______ _________
b = ___________
6enth of minor a1is:______
9n a perfect ellipse,

b
2
= a
2
c
2
% :o& close does your ellipse come from satisfyin this
e;uation<
-he eccentricity of an ellipse is defined by the e;uation

e = 1
b
2
a
2
. -his number is
al&ays bet&een = !in &hich case the ellipse is a circle" and '% >hat is the eccentricity of
your ellipse<
:o& does the eccentricity of your ellipse compare &ith the eccentricity of Earths orbit<
>hich planet has the most ?circle5li$e orbit, or the smallest eccentricity<
>hat planet has orbital eccentricity closest to that of your ellipse<
-he table on p% 2.+ ives the eccentricity and semima0or a1is of Earths orbit% /se the
formula for eccentricity to determine Earths semiminor a1is% -hat is, solve for b.
Earths semiminor a1is !in $m" @ _____________
No& use the e;uation

b
2
= a
2
c
2
to find c.
c =___________
Bonus Questions:
3an you deduce an e1pression in terms of a, and c for the reatest distance Earth is from
the (un< 9f so, &hat is this distance in $m<
3an you find a similar e1pression for the smallest distance Earth is from the (un< >hat
is this distance in $m<
:int: -hese distances are reached &hen the (un is at the solstices%
>hat is the difference in these t&o distances< 9n other &ords, &hat's the difference in $m
bet&een the minimal and ma1imal Earth5(un distances<