Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

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Foci and Axes

Given the major and
minor axes of an ellipse,
you can always find the
foci. You need the foci
for some construction
methods. Just draw radii
of length a from the ends
of the minor axis.
Given the foci, however,
you can't uniquely
determine the axes. You
need additional
information such as the
length of one axis.
However, the major axis
is always along the line
through the foci and the
minor axis always
perpendicularly
bisects the line between
the foci.

Pin and String

Mostly useful as a
heuristic tool to help
students visualize
ellipses, but it can be
useful for constructing
large ellipses.
Put a pin in each focus
and tie a string to each
pin leaving slack with
length 2a. Pull the string
taut with a pencil point
and slide the pencil to
draw the ellipse.
This makes use of the
fact that an ellipse is the
locus of points whose
distances from two fixed
points have a constant
sum.
http://www.sahraid.com/
has a spiffy tool that
makes this method much
handier to employ.

Trammel Method

In my view the
best method. With
the major and
minor axes
constructed (and
extended) mark a
piece of paper
with points O, A
and B so that OA
= a and AB = b.
Slide O along the
minor axis and B
along the major
axis. Point A
traces out the
ellipse.
With any
reasonable care
this method is
quite accurate and
it is very fast.

For cases where

the axes are
similar in size, the
method above
may be
inaccurate. It is
also possible to
draw an ellipse
using an external
trammel.

Envelope Method

Given the focus and a

circle whose diameter
equals the major axis,
draw a radius from the
focus to the circle, then a
line perpendicular to that.
The perpendiculars
sweep out the ellipse.
This is fast and can be
quite accurate. If you use
an index card to draw the
perpendiculars you can
dispense with drawing
the radii. Just let one
edge of the card serve as
a radius and use the other
to draw the
perpendicular.
For a quick and dirty way
to sketch an ellipse this
rivals the trammel
method. It roughs out the
area enclosed by the
ellipse a bit faster.

The Draftsman's Method

This method is given in a

lot of drafting texts. For
extreme accuracy it's
probably the best method.
It's convenient for use on
a drafting board with Tsquare and triangles.
Construct the major and
minor axes and draw
circles with each axis as
diameter. Also construct
radii as shown. Angles
aren't critical so radii can
be closer in areas where
greater accuracy is
needed.

Draw vertical lines from

the intersection of each
radius with the outer
circle and horizontal lines
from the intersection of
each radius with the inner
circle. The intersection of
each pair of
corresponding lines is a
point on the ellipse.
It's easy to see this is
simply an
implementation of the
parametric equation of an
ellipse: x = a cos t, y = b
sin t.

When the desired number

of points are drawn,
construct the ellipse.

Paralellogram Method

Sometimes you know an

ellipse can be enclosed
within a parallelogram,
for example, a
foreshortened view of a
circle or a spherical
object sheared out of
shape.
Construct the
parallelogram and divide
it into quarters. Divide all
the lines into equal
numbers of segments and
number them as shown.
From the midpoints of
opposite sides, draw
straight lines through the
tick marks as shown.

Continue the construction

for all quadrants of the
parallelogram.

Connect all the 1-1, 2-2

intersections, etc., to
construct the ellipse.
This construction will
work perfectly well if the
parallelogram is a
rectangle, so it will work
to construct an ellipse if
the major and minor axes
are known.
If the parallelogram is a
square, the resulting
ellipse is a circle. The
intersecting lines are
perpendicular, and the
construction is the
famous one of
constructing a right angle
inside a semicircle. The
general construction here
simply works by
deforming the
construction so an ellipse
results.

Five-Center Method

This was long a standard

in drafting texts, and
pretty much obsolete
today. Any CAD program
will draw true ellipses,
and the trammel and
envelope methods are
faster. It's here mostly out
of respect for tradition.
Draw the major and
minor axes of the ellipse
and draw a rectangle
around them. Construct
XY and draw P-C1
perpendicular to XY.
Let X-C2 = r and locate
Q such that YQ = 2r.
Draw a circle of radius r
centered on C2. By
symmetry, everything on
the right side of the
diagram is repeated
exactly on the left.
Using C1 as center and
C1-Q as radius, draw an
arc through Q. Call the
intersection of this arc
with the circle X-C2 C4.

Construct line C1-C4 and

extend it to T. Using C1
as center, draw arc YU.
Construct line C4-C2 and
extend it to L. Using C4
as a center, construct arc
UV. The successive arcs
YUVX are an
approximation to the
ellipse.

The true ellipse is shown

in red, the approximation
in purple. The
approximation is quite
good for slightly or
moderately eccentric
ellipses but becomes
obviously incorrect for
very elongated ellipses.

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Created 17 June 2005, Last Update 14 December 2009
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