Date of Award
8-1970
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Degree Discipline
Mathematics
Abstract
This paper is an attempt to give a development of the parabola and some of its properties by the methods of synthetic geometry. The writer also wishes to show the power and beauty of synthetic geometry in proving theorems pertaining to the parabola.
The basic problem is to formulate and prove at least fifteen theorems using only synthetic geometry. The usual approach to properties of conics such as the parabola is by means of analytic geometry. Yet, in a traditional course in high school geometry, most of the theorems on lines and line segments, angles, triangles, quadrilaterals, and circles are proved using only a synthetic approach.
The writer was motivated to do research in this area for primarily two reasons. First, there was the desire to know if the synthetic method can indeed be used to study properties of a parabola since it is such a powerful method in the study of triangles, quadrilaterals, and circles. Secondly, the writer wanted to discover, study and prove some of the lesser-known — that is, to the writer — properties of the parabola and to see how effectively the synthetic approach can be used in this study.
Committee Chair/Advisor
Frederick R. Gray
Committee Member
A.D. Stewart
Publisher
Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical College
Rights
© 2021 Prairie View A & M University![Creative Commons License](https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Date of Digitization
3/30/2022
Contributing Institution
John B Coleman Library
City of Publication
Prairie View
MIME Type
Application/PDF
Recommended Citation
Dooley, B. L. (1970). A Development Of The Parabola And Some Of Its Properties By The Synthetic Methods Of High School Geometry. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/pvamu-theses/1432