July 31, 2015

TA101A 2015-16, 1st semester

Instructor: Prof. Sudhir Misra
Handout-1: Construction of ellipse
Method 1: Concentric circle method

1. To construct an ellipse with AB as

major axis and CD as minor axis, use
their point of intersection, point O, to
draw concentric circles with diameters
equal to major and minor axis. From
various points on the outer circle, such
as P and Q, draw radii OP and OQ,
which intersect the inner circle at P and
Q respectively. From points on the
outer circle, draw lines parallel to minor
axis. Similarly, from points on the inner
circle, draw lines parallel to major axis.
The intersection of the lines gives a
point on the ellipse (such as points 1, 2,
3 ,4).

2. Repeat the procedure for more points

and connect the points to sketch the curve
in a light freehand.

Method 2: Parallelogram method

1. To construct an ellipse with AB and

CD as a pair of conjugate diameters,
construct a parallelogram on the given
diameters. Divide AO into any number
of equal parts, and divide AG into same
number of equal parts, numbering
points from A. Draw lines from point C
to points on AG, and draw lines from
point D to points on AO. Their
intersections will be the points on the
ellipse. The intersection of the lines
gives a point on the ellipse (such as
points 1, 2, 3)

2. Repeat the procedure for other

quadrants and connect the points to
sketch the curve in a light freehand.

Method 3: Circle method for conjugate diameters

1. To construct an ellipse with AB and CD

as a pair of conjugate diameters,
construct a circle with AB as the diameter.
From points such as P, Q, S on the circle,
draw perpendiculars PP, QO, SS on the
diameter AB. From points P and S, draw
lines parallel to QC, and from points P
and S, draw lines parallel to OC. The
intersection of the lines give the points on
the ellipse (such as 1, 2, 3, 4).

2. Repeat the procedure for more points

and connect the points to sketch the curve
in a light freehand

Method 4: Four-Centered method (Approximate method)

1. To construct an ellipse with AB and CD

as major and minor axis, join A and D.
Mark point E on line AD, such that DE =
AO DO. Draw the perpendicular bisector
of AE, which cuts the major axis at point K
and the minor axis at point H.

2. Mark the point M which is the mirror of

point K about O on major axis. Similarly,
mark the point L, which is the mirror of
point H on minor axis.

3. Using point H as center and HD as the

radius, construct the arc RDS. Similarly, using
point L as center, and with the same radius,
draw the arc PCQ. Using point K as the center
and AK as the radius, construct the arc PAR.
Similarly, using point M as center, and with
the same radius, draw the arc QBS.

For more details, refer to Pages 70-72, Engineering Drawing and Graphic Technology, 14th Edition, by Thomas E. French