Major axis

Revision as of 00:35, 28 November 2011 by Ytao (talk | contribs) (Major Axis)

The major axis of a ellipsis is the longer of its two axis and contains the foci of the ellipsis.

An ellipsis with the equation of the form $\frac{x^2}{a^2}+\frac{y^2}{b^2}=1$, where $a>b$ has its major axis on the x-axis. Similarly, when $a<b$, the major axis is on the y-axis.