Parabolic usually refers to something in a shape of a
parabola
In mathematics, a parabola is a plane curve which is mirror-symmetrical and is approximately U-shaped. It fits several superficially different mathematical descriptions, which can all be proved to define exactly the same curves.
One descript ...
, but may also refer to a
parable
A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, w ...
.
Parabolic may refer to:
*In mathematics:
**In elementary mathematics, especially elementary geometry:
**
Parabolic coordinates
Parabolic coordinates are a two-dimensional orthogonal coordinate system in which the coordinate lines are confocal parabolas. A three-dimensional version of parabolic coordinates is obtained by rotating the two-dimensional system about the symme ...
**
Parabolic cylindrical coordinates
In mathematics, parabolic cylindrical coordinates are a three-dimensional orthogonal coordinate system that results from projecting the two-dimensional parabolic coordinate system in the
perpendicular z-direction. Hence, the coordinate surfaces ...
**
parabolic Möbius transformation
**
Parabolic geometry (disambiguation) Parabolic geometry may refer to:
* Parabolic geometry, former name for Euclidean geometry, a comprehensive and deductive mathematical system
* Parabolic geometr ...
**
Parabolic spiral
**
Parabolic line
In differential geometry, a smooth surface in three dimensions has a parabolic point when the Gaussian curvature is zero. Typically such points lie on a curve called the parabolic line
which separates the surface into regions of positive and negat ...
**In advanced mathematics:
***
Parabolic cylinder function
In mathematics, the parabolic cylinder functions are special functions defined as solutions to the differential equation
This equation is found when the technique of separation of variables is used on Laplace's equation when expressed in parabo ...
***
Parabolic induction In mathematics, parabolic induction is a method of constructing representations of a reductive group from representations of its parabolic subgroups.
If ''G'' is a reductive algebraic group and P=MAN is the Langlands decomposition of a parabol ...
***
Parabolic Lie algebra In algebra, a parabolic Lie algebra \mathfrak p is a subalgebra of a semisimple Lie algebra \mathfrak g satisfying one of the following two conditions:
* \mathfrak p contains a maximal solvable subalgebra (a Borel subalgebra) of \mathfrak g;
* the ...
***
Parabolic partial differential equation
A parabolic partial differential equation is a type of partial differential equation (PDE). Parabolic PDEs are used to describe a wide variety of time-dependent phenomena, including heat conduction, particle diffusion, and pricing of derivati ...
*In physics:
**
Parabolic trajectory
In astrodynamics or celestial mechanics a parabolic trajectory is a Kepler orbit with the eccentricity equal to 1 and is an unbound orbit that is exactly on the border between elliptical and hyperbolic. When moving away from the source it is ca ...
*In technology:
**
Parabolic antenna
A parabolic antenna is an antenna that uses a parabolic reflector, a curved surface with the cross-sectional shape of a parabola, to direct the radio waves. The most common form is shaped like a dish and is popularly called a dish antenna or pa ...
**
Parabolic microphone
A parabolic microphone is a microphone that uses a parabolic reflector to collect and focus sound waves onto a transducer, in much the same way that a parabolic antenna (e.g. satellite dish) does with radio waves. Though they lack high fidelity ...
**
Parabolic reflector
A parabolic (or paraboloid or paraboloidal) reflector (or dish or mirror) is a reflective surface used to collect or project energy such as light, sound, or radio waves. Its shape is part of a circular paraboloid, that is, the surface generated ...
**
Parabolic trough
A parabolic trough is a type of solar thermal collector that is straight in one dimension and curved as a parabola in the other two, lined with a polished metal mirror. The sunlight which enters the mirror parallel to its plane of symmetry is foc ...
- a type of solar thermal energy collector
**
Parabolic flight
A reduced-gravity aircraft is a type of fixed-wing aircraft that provides brief near-weightless environments for training astronauts, conducting research and making gravity-free movie shots.
Versions of such airplanes were operated by the NAS ...
- a way of achieving weightlessness
**
Parabolic action, or parabolic bending curve - a term often used to refer to a progressive bending curve in
fishing rod
A fishing rod is a long, thin rod used by angling, anglers to fishing, catch fish by manipulating a fishing line, line ending in a fish hook, hook (formerly known as an ''angle'', hence the term "angling"). At its most basic form, a fishing ...
s.
*In commodities and stock markets:
**
Parabolic SAR In stock and securities market technical analysis, parabolic SAR (parabolic stop and reverse) is a method devised by J. Welles Wilder, Jr., to find potential reversals in the market price direction of traded goods such as securities or currency exc ...
- a chart pattern in which prices rise or fall with an increasingly steeper slope
*Other
**
Parabolic dune
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...
, a sand formation
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