Semi-minor axis

Semi-major axis
focus

The length of the semi-minor axis could also be found

using the following formula,[1]

Semi-minor axis
focus

2b =

2 Hyperbola

The semi-major axis (in red) and semi-minor axis (in blue) of an
ellipse.

In a hyperbola, a conjugate axis or minor axis of length

2b, corresponding to the minor axis of an ellipse, can
be drawn perpendicular to the transverse axis or major axis, the latter connecting the two vertices (turning
points) of the hyperbola, with the two axes intersecting at
the center of the hyperbola. The endpoints (0, b) of the
minor axis lie at the height of the asymptotes over/under
the hyperbolas vertices. Either half of the minor axis
is called the semi-minor axis, of length b. Denoting the
semi-major axis length (distance from the center to a vertex) as a, the semi-minor and semi-major axes lengths
appear in the equation of the hyperbola relative to these
axes as follows:

In geometry, the semi-minor axis (also semiminor

axis) is a line segment associated with most conic sections (that is, with ellipses and hyperbolas) that is at right
angles with the semi-major axis and has one end at the
center of the conic section. It is one of the axes of symmetry for the curve: in an ellipse, the shorter one; in a
hyperbola, the one that does not intersect the hyperbola.

(p + q)2 f 2

Ellipse

The semi-minor axis of an ellipse runs from the center

of the ellipse (a point halfway between and on the line
2
2
running between the foci) to the edge of the ellipse. The x y = 1.
b2
semi-minor axis is half of the minor axis. The minor axis a2
is the longest line segment perpendicular to the major axis The semi-minor axis and the semi-major axis are related
that connects two points on the ellipses edge.
through the eccentricity, as follows:
The semi-minor axis b is related to the semi-major axis
a through the eccentricity e and the semi-latus rectum l ,

as follows:
b = a e2 1.

b = a 1 e2

Note that in a hyperbola b can be larger than a.

al = b2

3 References

The semi-minor axis of an ellipse is the geometric mean

of the maximum and minimum distances rmax and rmin
of the ellipse from a focus that is, of the distances from
a focus to the endpoints of the major axis:

b=

[1] http://www.mathopenref.com/ellipseaxes.html,Major /
Minor axis of an ellipse,Math Open Reference, 12 May
2013

4 External links

rmax rmin .

Semi-minor and semi-major axes of an ellipse With

interactive animation

A parabola can be obtained as the limit of a sequence

of ellipses where one focus is kept xed as the other is allowed to move arbitrarily far away in one direction, keeping l xed. Thus a and b tend to innity, a faster than b.
1

5 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

5.1

Text

Semi-minor axis Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-minor%20axis?oldid=627999306 Contributors: Patrick, WouterVH, Charles

Matthews, Aliekens, Giftlite, Jyril, The Singing Badger, Pmanderson, Urhixidur, Perey, 0.39, SeventyThree, Salix alba, Chobot, Eskimbot, Torrazzo, John.d.page, Swpb, David Eppstein, Leafnode, Ceroklis, Alexbot, Erodium, Addbot, Yobot, Sae1962, Bookerj, TobeBot,
Duoduoduo, Jfmantis, Suarez ruibal, ZroBot, Teapeat, Chathura666 and Anonymous: 10

5.2

Images

File:An_image_describing_the_semi-major_and_semi-minor_axis_of_ellipse.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/

commons/7/76/An_image_describing_the_semi-major_and_semi-minor_axis_of_ellipse.svg License: CC BY-SA 4.0 Contributors: Own
work Original artist: Sae1962

5.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0