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Eccentricity

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In mathematics, eccentricity is a measure of how much an ellipse deviates from a circle.

To calculate the eccentricity of any ellipse, measure the semi-major axis and call it a. Measure the semi-minor axis and call that measurement b. Now:

eccentricity = e = square root( (a2 - b2)/a2)

The eccentricity of an ellipse is greater than zero and smaller than 1

The eccentricity of a circle is zero.

The eccentricity of a parabola is 1.

The eccentricity of a hyperbola is greater than 1.

In astronomy, eccentricity refers to the deviation of an object's orbital motion from a circular orbit, according to the mathematical formula given above.

In popular usage, eccentricity refers to unusual or odd behavior on the part of a person.

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