Lecture 6 - Friday, April 11

CYLINDERS AND QUADRIC SURFACES (§12.6)

We have seen that a linear equation like

ax + by + cz = d

gives a plane in R3.

What about surfaces defined by quadratic equations
(quadratic in x, y, z)?
The situation in R2
In R2 a quadratic equation gives one of the following curves:
• y = ax 2 → parabola
a>0 a<0
y y

x x

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• ( ax )2 + ( yb )2 = 1 → ellipse
y

• hyperbola
y y

x x

( ax )2 − ( yb )2 = 1 ( yb )2 − ( ax )2 = 1

Remark: All the curves can be shifted

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 Scaling and translating
• Scaling:
y y y
2 2 2
1 1 1
x x x
−2 −1 1 2 −2 −1 1 2 −2 −1 1 2
−1 −1 −1
−2 −2 −2
x 2 + y2 = 1 ( x2 )2 + y2 = 1 (2x)2 + y2 = 1
Dividing x by a means stretching the object by a factor
a along the x axis
• Translating:
y y
2 2
1 1
x x
−2 −1 1 2 −2 −1 1 2
−1 −1
−2 −2
x 2 + y2 = 1 (x − 1)2 + y2 = 1
Subtracting a from x means moving the object by a in
direction of the x-axis.

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 Def: Given a plane curve in R3, a cylinder is a set of all
parallel lines through this curve.

Example: ( x4 )2 + z 2 = 1 describes an elliptic cylinder

z

1
x
4

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Example: z = y2 describes an parabolic cylinder
z

Observe: Intersecting any parallel translation of the yz-

plane with the cylinder gives the same plane curve.

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Recall: x 2 + y2 + z 2 = r 2 defines a sphere of radius r.

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An ellipsoid is of the form ( ax )2 + ( yb )2 + ( zc )2 = 1.

Intersection with any coordinate planes (= trace) gives an

ellipse

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An cone is of the form ( zc )2 = ( ax )2 + ( yb )2.
z

Intersections with shifted xy-plane are ellipses.

For a = b = c, the intersection with z = z0 is a sphere of
radius |z0|.
z0

radius

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An elliptic paraboloid is of the form z
c = ( ax )2 + ( yb )2.

Intersections with shifted xy-plane are ellipses.

For a = b = c = 1, the intersection with z = z0 is a sphere
√
of radius z0.
z0

radius

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An hyperboloid of one sheet is of the form
x y z
( )2 + ( )2 − ( )2 = 1.
a b c

Intersections with shifted xy-plane are ellipses

For a =
qb = c = 1, intersection with z = z0 is sphere of
radius 1 + z02

z0

radius

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An hyperboloid of two sheets is of the form
( ax )2 + ( yb )2 = ( zc )2 − 1.

Intersections with xy-plane are ellipses

For a = b = c = 1, intersection with z = z0 is sphere of
√
radius z 2 − 1
z0

radius

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Example 1: What type of surface is z = x 2 + y2?
Solution: Intersections with shifted xy-plane is a sphere of
√
radius z ⇒ elliptic paraboloid.

Example 2: What type of surface is 36x 2 − 9y2 + 4z 2 = 36?

Solution: After scaling/shrinking along x, y and z-axis,
the surface is of the same type as x 2 − y2 + z 2 = 1.
Hence this is a hyperboloid of one sheet.

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Example: Classify the surface given by

x 2 + 2z 2 − 6x − y + 4z + 11 = 0.

Idea: Bring eq. into form (x−?)2 − y + (z−?)2 =?.

We rewrite the equation

(x 2 − 6x) + 2(z 2 + 2z) = y − 11

⇔ (x 2 − 6x + 32) + 2(z 2 + 2z + 1) = y − 11 + 2 + 9
⇔ (x − 3)2 + 2(z + 1)2 = y

This is an elliptic paraboloid, shifted by (3, 0, −1).

The central axis is (3, 0, −1) + t(0, 1, 0) for t ≥ 0
z

x
(3, 0, −1)

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