Michigan Algebra II KHauck

An ellipse is the set of points in a plane such that the sum of the distances from two fixed points in that plane stays constant. The two points are each called a focus point. The plural of focus is foci. The midpoint of the segment joining the foci is called the center of the ellipse. An ellipse has two axes of symmetry. The longer one is called the major axis, and the shorter one is called the minor axis. The two axes intersect at the center of the ellipse. When the length of the major axis is the same as the minor axis, the ellipse is a circle.