Find the equation for a parabola with given vertex and point.

  • Thread starter Thread starter TonyC
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Parabola
Click For Summary

Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around finding the equation of a parabola given its vertex at (-5, 5) and a point it passes through at (-3, 17). The subject area is algebra, specifically focusing on quadratic functions and their properties.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Mathematical reasoning, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the general form of a quadratic equation and how to use the vertex and a point to derive the equation. There are attempts to substitute the known values into the equation and to utilize the vertex's properties to find relationships between coefficients.

Discussion Status

Some participants have provided algebraic manipulations based on the vertex and point, while others have proposed specific forms of the equation. There is an indication of progress as participants check their derived equations against the given points, although no consensus on a final solution has been reached.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes the assumption that the vertex form of the parabola is appropriate for this problem, and participants are working within the constraints of the provided vertex and point without additional information.

TonyC
Messages
86
Reaction score
0
Vertex (-5,5) point (-3,17)

Equation for the parabola with the given vertex that passes through the given point.

I am stumped! Please help :bugeye:
 
Physics news on Phys.org
well, look at this
you have a quadratic of the form ax^2+bx+c
so you have two points
so plug in y and x in for those two points:

5=25a-5b+c
and
17=9a-3b+c

but they also tell you that (-5, 5) is the vertex
which means that there, the solution only has one root; meaning that the x coordinate is equal to -b/2a
so then you have
-5=-b/2a

i think you should be able to solve for this now. perhapsably.
 
Using what is provided, I have come up with:

y=3(x+5)^2+5
 
TonyC said:
Using what is provided, I have come up with:

y=3(x+5)^2+5

Great. This is always the most insightful way to write the equation of a parabola.
As a check, you can easily see the vertex is at (-5,5). Putting x=-3 gives y=3(2^2)+5=17.
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 25 ·
Replies
25
Views
4K
  • · Replies 44 ·
2
Replies
44
Views
5K
Replies
12
Views
2K
  • · Replies 21 ·
Replies
21
Views
2K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
Replies
4
Views
2K
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
3K
Replies
2
Views
2K