The hyperbola is centered on a point (h, k), which is the "center" of the hyperbola. The point on each branch closest to the center is that branch's "vertex". The vertices are some fixed distance a from the center. The line going from one vertex, through the center, and ending at the other vertex is called the "transverse" axis. The "foci" of an hyperbola are "inside" each branch, and each focus is located some fixed distance c from the center. (This means that a < c for hyperbolas.) The values of a and c will vary from one hyperbola to another, but they will be fixed values for any given hyperbola.