Parabola
A parabola is a type of conic section. A parabola is a locus of points that are equidistant from a point (the vertex) and a line (the directrix).
File:Parabola.jpg
Parabolic Curve Showing Directrix. Its Equation: ![$x^2 = 8y$](//latex.artofproblemsolving.com/f/6/f/f6f8d3fb4b4d4a4ea7d95b1e1881e8823803fd1b.png)
![$x^2 = 8y$](http://latex.artofproblemsolving.com/f/6/f/f6f8d3fb4b4d4a4ea7d95b1e1881e8823803fd1b.png)
Parabola Equations
There are several "standard" ways to write the equation of a parabola. The first is polynomial form: y = ax^2+bx+c where a, b, and c are constants. The second is completed square form, or where a, k, and c are constants. The third way is the conic section form, or y^2=4px or
where the p is a constant, and is the distance from the focus to the directrix.