Talk:3189: Conic Sections
Isn't the base of a cone, just a circle? How would this have "corners"? SDSpivey (talk) 01:41, 3 January 2026 (UTC)
- The cone upon which a conic section exists doesn't actually have a base, it's just arbitrarily large (possibly infinitely so) in order for the section to only ever lay along the 'curve' of the cone part.
- But, here, the base is wwhere you give up on plotting how far 'down the cone' you go, of the sufficiently large ellipse (or possibly parabolic/hyperbolic curve), which is indeed round but has an sharp (i.e. acute) angle between its flat (and incidentally circular) plane-section and the 'wrapped' pseudo-euclidean plane of the conic-section it intersects with. 92.23.2.208 01:50, 3 January 2026 (UTC)
Bring a jacket and spoon for orbits that go through the ice cream.Lord Pishky (talk) 01:43, 3 January 2026 (UTC)
I'm pretty sure this is the shape of the flat bottom of a cake cone. 71.212.56.254 03:02, 3 January 2026 (UTC)
- They REALLY hate the flat-bottom cone orbits and the waffle cones make for a bumpy ride.Lord Pishky (talk) 18:57, 3 January 2026 (UTC)
It appears to be a cut-off section of an ellipse, so basically a regular orbit with a sharp line. (Desmos) Tanner07 (talk) 04:29, 3 January 2026 (UTC)
https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/v2/D5622AQH3CYoPXy1cqg/feedshare-shrink_2048_1536/feedshare-shrink_2048_1536/0/1727242249609?e=1769040000&v=beta&t=UdAX9TH3joo-vpvj4pRWXoCQyF6JVUPVmyONWghcj5E --PRR (talk) 05:06, 3 January 2026 (UTC)
I feel like there needs to some explicit acknowledgement that the cone in question is an ice cream cone.99.239.23.54 00:11, 4 January 2026 (UTC)
- But ice-cream cones have the 'flat bit' (actually the opening; give or take the scoop of ice-cream, which is a ball, or else the soft-served 'twirly-dollop', which another more convoluted form of inverted cone) at the top. Which just really doesn't fit with anything the comic says about the conic. Unless you see some obscure connection that I'm just not getting out of it. (Beyond that both are considered 'cones', which is as tenuous as if I suggested traffic cones was the ultimate reference, for example.)
- But if you can give any better referencing connection, you look like you should know how to edit things to enlighten those of us who are missing it. Explain away, as that's the point of this site... 82.132.236.68 01:39, 4 January 2026 (UTC)
