An ellipse is a closed, curved geometric figure that looks like a circle that has been squished in one direction. It is the two-dimensional shape of an egg. A regular oval shape, such as those found on an egg, are perfect ellipses. An ellipse can also be defined as the trace of a point moving in such a way that the sum of its distances from two fixed points remains constant. Ellipses are common in everyday life and can be found in many different applications: astronomy, physics, engineering (electricity), architecture (e.g., domes), and art (painting). Ellipses have some interesting properties that make them useful for solving problems related to the area or perimeter calculations.

## Ellipse – Definition

An ellipse is a regular oval shape, traced by a point moving in a plane so that the sum of its distances from two other points (the foci) is constant, or resulting when a cone is cut by an oblique plane that does not intersect the base.

A circle has no distinct points at which it intersects itself; instead it intersects an infinite number of times. An ellipse does not touch itself, but contacts two non-trivial circles along its major and minor axes respectively

The term “ellipse” refers to both the shape and to its definition as an object that looks like a flattened circle.

Ellipses are important in astronomy because they represent one type of orbit for planets and other celestial bodies as well as artificial satellites. The Earth’s orbit around the Sun, and that of many other planets around their star (sun), are approximately elliptical in nature – they don’t follow perfect circles but instead they have some squashed oneness to them.

## Ellipse Area

The formula for calculating the area of an ellipse is very simple:

A = \pi \times a \times b

## Ellipse Perimeter

The formula you will want to use if you want to calculate the perimeter of an ellipse is:

P = \pi [3 \times (a+b) - \sqrt {[(3 \times a + b) (a + 3 \times b)]}]

## The eccentricity of an ellipse

The eccentricity of an ellipse is a measure of how elliptical the ellipse is. In other words, it’s a number between 0 and 1 that describes how stretched out the ellipse is along its major and minor axes. A circle has an eccentricity of 0, while an oval has an eccentricity greater than 0 but less than 1. An elliptical orbit is one where the body in question orbits around another body with a large eccentricity due to gravitational forces pulling them into different shapes.

## What is the center and what is the foci of an ellipse?

The center of the ellipse is the point where the two axes cross. The foci on the other hand, is a point that lies on the major axis of the ellipse, and that is equidistant from its starting point.

## How to use the ellipse calculator

With the ellipse calculator, you can calculate the area, perimeter and the eccentricity of your ellipse. But on top of that, you can calculate the coordinates of the first (F1) and second focus (F2), as well as that, you can calculate the two vertices, two on the horizontal axis, and one on the vertical axis.

## FAQ

What is an ellipse?

An ellipse is a regular oval shape, traced by a point moving in a plane so that the sum of its distances from two other points (the foci) is constant, or resulting when a cone is cut by an oblique plane that does not intersect the base.

How to calculate area of an ellipse?

The formula for calculating the area of an ellipse is A = π * a * b.

How to calculate the perimeter of ellipse?

The most often used formula is: P ≈ π [ 3 (a + b) – √[(3a + b) (a + 3b) ]].