Elliptic coordinate system

Okay kiddo, imagine you are standing at the center of a big circle. You can run around the edge of the circle and you would always be the same distance from the center. This circle is called the "concentric circle" in the elliptic coordinate system.

Now, let's say you want to move away from the center of the circle. Instead of running straight out, you start walking at an angle to the circle. As you move farther and farther away from the center, your angle changes. This angle is called your "eccentric angle" in the elliptic coordinate system.

Once you've reached a certain distance from the center, you stop walking at an angle and start walking around another circle. This circle is smaller than the first one and is "off-center" from the first circle. You keep walking around this off-center circle, changing your eccentric angle as you go.

This is basically what the elliptic coordinate system does, except instead of a person walking, it's a point moving. The concentric circles and off-center circles are also called "ellipses" in this system, which is why it's called the "elliptic" coordinate system.

The elliptic coordinate system is super useful in math and physics because it can be used to solve problems involving things like electric and magnetic fields, fluid flow, and even the movement of planets and stars!