Parabola

Revision as of 17:42, 19 June 2006 by Chess64 (talk | contribs) (Parabola Equations)

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).

Parabola Equations

There are several "standard" ways to write the equation of a parabola. The first is polynomial form: $y = a{x}^2+b{x}+c$ where a, b, and c are constants. The second is completed square form, or $y=a(x-k)^2+c$ where a, k, and c are constants. The third way is the conic section form, or $y^2$$=4px$ or $x^2=4py$ where the p is a constant, and is the distance from the focus to the directrix.