Ellipsoid

High school (ages 12+)
Mathematics & Numbers

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/ellipsoid

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is an ellipsoid?An ellipsoid is a 3‑dimensional shape that looks like a squished or stretched ball. It can be described by the equation (x/a)² + (y/b)² + (z/c)² = 1, where a, b, and c are the lengths of its three axes.
2. How is an ellipsoid made from a sphere?You start with a perfect sphere and then stretch or squeeze it along the x, y, and z directions. This scaling turns the sphere into an ellipsoid while keeping its center the same.

Affine Transformation: A geometric transformation that preserves lines and parallelism but not necessarily angles or lengths.
Semi-axes: The distances from the center of an ellipsoid to its surface along its principal axes.
Oblate Spheroid: An ellipsoid of revolution flattened at the poles, with the polar axis shorter than the equatorial diameter.