A plane intersects the double cone in four ways producing a circle,
an ellipse, a parabola, and an hyperbola.

Ashleigh is a PhD student and graduate teaching assistant at the University of Leicester. Her main mathematical interests are in number theory. She is passionate about outreach and inclusion in mathematics, volunteers as a STEM ambassador and is a representative for the Piscopia Initiative.
More from Chalkdust
The human mug
Potatoes, mugs and doughnuts with Ashleigh Ratcliffe.In conversation with Robin Wilson
Ashleigh Wilcox and Ellen Jolley chat to the professor and maths communicator about books, the Open University and musicOn the cover: Spirographs
Ashleigh Wilcox, Jenny Power and Rachel Evans show you how to draw pretty picturesMarkov unchained
Ashleigh Wilcox looks for integer solutions to the Markov equationPage 3 model: Cows
How big is the biggest cow?Rewatch the Issue 12 virtual launch event
Now available to catch up on YouTube