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
***
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
{{disambiguation