WOLFRAM|DEMONSTRATIONS PROJECT

The Ellipsograph, a Mechanism for Constructing an Ellipse

​
semimajor axis a
semiminor axis b
move
show labels
This Demonstration shows a top view of an ellipsograph, a mechanism for constructing the ellipse
2
x
/
2
a
+
2
y

2
b
=1
. The points
X
and
Y
slide along the
x
and
y
axes. The distance between them is
|a-b|
and the distance between
X
and
P
is
|b|
.