Thread: Parabola Equation

There is a square with the side length of 8. The vertex is in the middle, and thats the vertex for a parabola opening up. What is the equation for this?

Originally Posted by Morgan82

There is a square with the side length of 8. The vertex is in the middle, and thats the vertex for a parabola opening up. What is the equation for this?

Actually there are an infinite number of possible answers - all depending on the coordinates of the centre of the square ......

It would be best for you to post the question exactly as it appears in your book/assignment/notes etc.

It was a question i had on a test. The vertex was at (0,0) in the center of the square that was 8 on each side. Thats all the info I got.

Originally Posted by Morgan82

It was a question i had on a test. The vertex was at (0,0) in the center of the square that was 8 on each side. Thats all the info I got.

Is the parabola supposed to intersect the corners of the square or something? We still don't have enough information to get a unique parabola.

-Dan

Originally Posted by Morgan82

It was a question i had on a test. The vertex was at (0,0) in the center of the square that was 8 on each side. Thats all the info I got.

Two things:

1. Since you're remembering the question form a test, you might not be recalling the question exactly as it was posed - there could be additional data ..... (Eg. the question might have asked for the simplest parabola - see below)

2. Assuming the square to have centre at (0, 0) [that is, the origin] leads to the simplest equation. But .... note that I've stressed the word assuming .....

I'd suggest you approach whoever set the test and discuss with them the issue raised in this thread.