Q.Find the equation of the parabola that satisfies the given conditions: Vertex passing through and axis is along -axis.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →A parabola with vertex at the origin and axis along the -axis has the form ; substituting the point gives , so the equation is .
When a parabola has its vertex at the origin and opens along one of the coordinate axes, it takes on a particularly clean standard form. The key insight here is recognizing which standard form applies.
Since the axis of the parabola is along the -axis, the parabola opens either to the right or to the left. The standard equation for such a parabola with vertex at is:
where is the focal parameter. If , the parabola opens to the right; if , it opens to the left. The focus is at and the directrix is the line .
This form differs from the more familiar precisely because we're treating as a function of rather than the reverse—the parabola is "horizontal" rather than "vertical."
Now we determine the value of using the given point.
- Start with the standard form. Since the vertex is at the origin and the axis is the -axis, we have:
- Substitute the point . The parabola passes through this point, so when , we must have :
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