On Mon, 20 Feb 2006 21:41:48 -0600, Oleg Lego
wrote:


They are different. You can still as easily plot the catenary though
if that's what you want. Nobody will notice the difference [or be too
interested.] You'll need the parabola if you need a focal point.

Interesting. I was told that a catenary was a parabola. Of course it
was a web page somewhere that told me this, and we all know how
absolutely accurate web pages are. I will need a focal point, so
thanks for the info.

The parabola is a conic section. The catenary's a different ball of
wax involving exponentials. Have fun looking into it. I'll end it
here.