Question

If the distance from a fixed point is greater than the distance from a fixed straight line then what is the name of the conic section?

(a) Parabola

(b) Circle

(c) Hyperbola

(d) Ellipse

The question was asked during a job interview.

Enquiry is from Basics of Conic Sections topic in section Curves used in Engineering Practice of Engineering Drawing

Answer 1

The correct answer is (c) Hyperbola

The explanation is: The fixed point is called as focus and the fixed straight line is called as directrix. Eccentricity is defined as the ratio of the distance from the focus to the distance from the directrix and it is denoted by e. If e is greater than one then the conic section is called as a hyperbola.