Clinical informaticians, also known as clinical informaticists, transform health care by analyzing, designing, implementing, and evaluating information and communication systems that enhance individual and population health outcomes, improve [patient] care, and strengthen the clinician-patient relationship.
An ellipse is defined by two points, each called a focus. (F1, F2 above). If you take any point on the ellipse, the sum of the distances to the focus points is constant. In the figure above, drag the point on the ellipse around and see that while the distances to the focus points vary, their sum is constant. The size of the ellipse is determined by the sum of these two distances.
The Ellipses Gizmo starts by relating the formula of an ellipse to the formula of a circle, which is a special type of ellipse. Students then explore the Pythagorean relationship, which allows the position of the foci to be determined. In addition, the Gizmo helps make sense of the definition of an ellipse, which can be a tricky one. An ellipse is a curve created by moving a point so that the sum of its distances from two fixed points (the foci) is constant. Thatâs tough to picture, but the draggable purple point in the Gizmo illustrates it nicely. It also is a perfect lead-in to the hands-on activity of actually drawing an ellipse using a compass, a loop of string, and two push pins.