Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ia Paper 1 2A Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
In the standard spherical coordinate system, is measured from the positive axis. The radial unit vector in spherical coordinates isThe coordinate forms of the elliptic paraboloid are given in the labelled parts below.
For the other surface, converts toFor , this is a two-sheeted hyperboloid, with two disconnected sheets starting at and opening along the axis. For , it is a one-sheet hyperboloid:Its waist is the circle , . Both are surfaces of revolution about the axis and approach the cone far from the origin.
The figure shows and ; scaling all coordinates by gives the other magnitudes.
Two-sheeted and one-sheet hyperboloids for positive and negative values of a
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