This site uses cookies. Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site, while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used. For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Cookie settings
  1. KudoZ™ Top
  2. French to English
  3. Mathematics & Statistics

Could you draw me a diagram for the following explanation?

English translation: NFG - see 'parabola' in Wikipedia

15:57 Oct 30, 2008
French to English translations [PRO]
Science - Mathematics & Statistics / Geometry
French term or phrase: Could you draw me a diagram for the following explanation?
This may be a somewhat different question than you'd normally get here:
The book I'm translating is an occult book, but this one part is mathematics. I'm having a hard time grasping it and I'm in need of some help.
Could you draw me a simple diagram that makes clear what this portion of text means? I believe it would make the translation a whole lot easier; I understand all words, but visually it doesn't make a whole lot sense to me:

The text is about ways to go from a circle to a straight line, by using symmetry, this is one way:

l'axoïde parabolique:
La parabole possède une propriété qui nous intéresse particulièrement : elle est le lieu des points équidistants d'un point et d'une droite (foyer et directrice).
Retranchons une même longueur dans toutes les directions autour du point, nous engendrons un cercle qui a pour centre le foyer de la parabole.
Retranchons la même longueur de l'autre côté de la parabole sur les perpendiculaires à la directrice ; nous obtenons une nouvelle droite parallèle à la première et la distance qui les sépare est égale au rayon du cercle.
Comme nous avons retranché une même longueur autour du foyer, et parallèlement à la droite D, il en résulte que la parabole qui est équidistante du point P et de la droite D est également équidistante du cercle et de la droite D'.
Or, dans les symétries ordinaires, un axe est équidistant en tous points des figures symétriques. Ici, l'axe est courbe, c'est une parabole ; il suffit de tracer un cercle continu qui joint les trois points associés : du cercle, de la parabole et de la droite. Il est perpendiculaire à la parabole. Ainsi se trouve engendré un réseau de cercles, comparable aux réseaux avec lesquels la transformation du soleil en fleur nous a familiarisé.

-

The book does not include a diagram of this. It would help me a great deal if you could make a simple drawing that explains the above point.

Maybe you could mail it to me ([email protected]) or maybe you can upload it to this free image hosting: http://www.roflsaurus.com/index.php?user=upload

Thanks in advance.
Andy Tolle
Belgium
Local time: 20:17
English translation:NFG - see 'parabola' in Wikipedia
Explanation:
'A particular case arises when the plane is tangent to the conical surface of a circle. In this case, the intersection is a degenerate parabola consisting of a straight line.'

What more can I add?

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 17 hrs (2008-10-31 09:53:49 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

In the 60 seconds I had at my disposal this was the best I could come up with. I don't have a decent drawing tool on my computer anyway (not that I'm any good at drawing). And yes, it was rhetorical!

Attila has contributed an excellent link (I can't get Sandra's to give me a search result - I'm not a member/registered) - and maybe the text you're translating is not totally correct in mathematical terms.
Selected response from:

Charles Hawtrey (X)
Local time: 19:17
Grading comment
Thanks to the help of Anne Bohy, who mailed me a drawing, I finally understand what the author is trying to say.

The resulting diagram of the above text can be found here:
http://www.roflsaurus.com/users/public/f14414Symmetry_CircleIntoLineWithk112.png

Thanks for all references you guys provided here.
1 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5NFG - see 'parabola' in Wikipedia
Charles Hawtrey (X)
Summary of reference entries provided
Mathworld
Attila Piróth
http://www.les-mathematiques.net/
Sandra Petch

Discussion entries: 11





  

Answers


8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
NFG - see 'parabola' in Wikipedia


Explanation:
'A particular case arises when the plane is tangent to the conical surface of a circle. In this case, the intersection is a degenerate parabola consisting of a straight line.'

What more can I add?

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 17 hrs (2008-10-31 09:53:49 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

In the 60 seconds I had at my disposal this was the best I could come up with. I don't have a decent drawing tool on my computer anyway (not that I'm any good at drawing). And yes, it was rhetorical!

Attila has contributed an excellent link (I can't get Sandra's to give me a search result - I'm not a member/registered) - and maybe the text you're translating is not totally correct in mathematical terms.


    Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parabola
Charles Hawtrey (X)
Local time: 19:17
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 1
Grading comment
Thanks to the help of Anne Bohy, who mailed me a drawing, I finally understand what the author is trying to say.

The resulting diagram of the above text can be found here:
http://www.roflsaurus.com/users/public/f14414Symmetry_CircleIntoLineWithk112.png

Thanks for all references you guys provided here.
Notes to answerer
Asker: Charles, thanks for the help. I realize your question "What more can I add?" is probably meant to be a rhetoric one. So I hope I'm not offending you when I would reply: "a simple drawing". The words, be it in English or French, I see hem, but they don't make any visual sense to me.

Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)




Reference comments


31 mins
Reference: Mathworld

Reference information:
Definition: A parabola (plural "parabolas"; Gray 1997, p. 45) is the set of all points in the plane equidistant from a given line L (the conic section directrix) and a given point F not on the line (the focus).
Plus clear figures available at http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Parabola.html

Attila Piróth
France
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in HungarianHungarian
PRO pts in category: 29
Note to reference poster
Asker: Attila, Thanks for the reference I checked this website out before I posted my question here, but I don't see any diagram that resembles the thing the writer of the book i'm translating is trying to say. Am I missing something?

Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

16 hrs
Reference: http://www.les-mathematiques.net/

Reference information:
Hi Andy

Perhaps a maths forum could help you. I googled forum mathématiques and there seem to be a few including the one above.
Best of luck!

Sandra Petch
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:
ProZ.com term search
Search millions of term translations
Close search
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search