Parabola
Revision as of 18:15, 19 June 2006 by Quantum leap (talk | contribs) (changed "vertex" to "focus", edited completed square formula)
A parabola is a type of conic section. A parabola is a locus of points that are equidistant from a point (the focus) and a line (the directrix).
Parabola Equations
There are several "standard" ways to write the equation of a parabola. The first is polynomial form: 
where a, b, and c are constants. The second is completed square form, or 
where a, h, and k are constants and the vertex is (h,k). The third way is the conic section form, or 
or 
where the p is a constant, and is the distance from the focus to the directrix.
