The Hyperbola Challenge

http://library.advanced.org/tq-admin/month.cgi

http://library.thinkquest.org/10030/6conich 


http://www2.best.com/~xah/SpecialPlaneCurves_dir/Hyperbola_dir/hyperbola.html
 

1.  Go to the above sights and examine the reason(s) why the relationship between a^2, b^2, and c^2 is different from their relationship in an ellipse.
 

2.  Define the hyperbola in terms of distance.
 

3.  What are asymptotes, and how do they relate to the hyperbola?
 

4.  What type of hyperbola has the axes of the coordinate plane as its asymptotes?