Oblique section of a circular cylinder ($a=R/\cos \theta ,b=R$)

A mathematical plane cutting an infinite circular cylinder at a nonzero angle to its axis produces an ellipse, unless it is parallel to that axis. More precisely, let the cylinder radius be $R>0$, and let $\theta$ be the acute angle between the cylinder axis and the plane's normal vector, with $0\le \theta <\pi /2$. The semi-major and semi-minor axes and area areThe angle is measured from the normal, not from the cutting plane itself. At $\theta =0$, the profile is a circle.

To prove the result, choose Cartesian coordinates so the cylinder is $x^2+y^2=R^2$, with axis along $z$. Translate the cut so it crosses the axis at $(0,0,h)$. After rotating about the axis if necessary, an orthonormal basis in the cutting plane isA point in the plane is $(0,0,h)+u{\mathbf{e}}_1+v{\mathbf{e}}_2$. Substitution into the cylinder equation gives $u^2{\cos }^2\theta +v^2=R^2$, orBecause the basis is orthonormal, $u$ and $v$ measure actual lengths within the plane. The area of an ellipse then gives the stated area.

For an original example, $R=2$ and $\theta =60^{\circ }$ give $a=4$, $b=2$ and $A=8\pi$, twice the perpendicular-profile area. As $\theta$ approaches $\pi /2$, the ellipse grows without bound. At the excluded parallel orientation, a plane through the axis instead meets the lateral cylinder in two generator lines; the limiting formula does not describe a finite ellipse there.

Microtomy applies this geometry to thin physical sections of a circular material fibre. Its worked example and figure show how an elongated profile can arise from section orientation without deformation. Applying the ideal lemma requires accounting for finite thickness, a finite specimen and departures from a straight circular cylinder.