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Course: Algebra (all content) > Unit 17
Lesson 3: Center and radii of an ellipseEllipse features review
Review all the features of an ellipse: center, vertices, co-vertices, major radius, minor radius, and foci.
What are the features of an ellipse?
An ellipse has two radii of unequal size: the is longer than the . In our example, the major radius is the horizontal one, but that could be otherwise.
The connects the ellipse's , and the connects the ellipse's . The axes are twice the size of their corresponding radii.
The of the ellipse lies at the midpoint of its , which is also the midpoint of its .
The of the ellipse lie on the . Their special property is that the sum of the distances from the foci to each point on the ellipse is always the same.
Want to learn more about ellipses? Check out this video.
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