Dandelin Spheres - Proof of The Focus-directrix Property

Proof of The Focus-directrix Property

The directrix of a conic section can be found using Dandelin's construction. Each Dandelin sphere intersects the cone at a circle; let both of these circles define their own planes. The intersections of these two parallel planes with the conic section's plane will be two parallel lines; these lines are the directrices of the conic section. However, a parabola has only one Dandelin sphere, and thus has only one directrix.

Using the Dandelin spheres, it can be proved that any conic section is the locus of points for which the distance from a point (focus) is proportional to the distance from the directrix. Ancient Greek mathematicians such as Pappus of Alexandria were aware of this property, but the Dandelin spheres facilitate the proof.

Neither Dandelin nor Quetelet used the Dandelin spheres to prove the focus-directrix property. The first to do so was apparently Pierce Morton in 1829. The focus-directrix property is essential to proving that astronomical objects move along conic sections around the Sun.