Because that is how a parabola is defined!
true
parabola
A parabola.
The answer will depend onwhat you mean by "solving a parabola". A parabola has a directrix and a focus, a turning point, 0 1 or 2 roots and so on. Which of these is "solving"?The answer will depend onwhat you mean by "solving a parabola". A parabola has a directrix and a focus, a turning point, 0 1 or 2 roots and so on. Which of these is "solving"?The answer will depend onwhat you mean by "solving a parabola". A parabola has a directrix and a focus, a turning point, 0 1 or 2 roots and so on. Which of these is "solving"?The answer will depend onwhat you mean by "solving a parabola". A parabola has a directrix and a focus, a turning point, 0 1 or 2 roots and so on. Which of these is "solving"?
10
FALSE. One of the definitions of a parabola, and also a means of drawing it, is that EVERY point on it is equidistant from the focus and the directrix.
true
from any point and the dirextix
the set of points equidistant from a fixed point
It is the apex of the parabola.
One definition of a parabola is the set of points that are equidistant from a given line called the directrix and a given point called the focus. So, no. The distances are not different, they are the same. The distance between the directrix and a given point on the parabola will always be the same as the distance between that same point on the parabola and the focus. Any point where those two distances are equal would be on the parabola somewhere and all the points where those two distances are different would not be on the parabola. Note that the distance from a point to the directrix is definied as the perpendicular distance (also known as the minimum distance).
"From the geometric point of view, the given point is the focus of the parabola and the given line is its directrix. It can be shown that the line of symmetry of the parabola is the line perpendicular to the directrix through the focus. The vertex of the parabola is the point of the parabola that is closest to both the focus and directrix."-http://www.personal.kent.edu/~rmuhamma/Algorithms/MyAlgorithms/parabola.htm"A line perpendicular to the axis of symmetry used in the definition of a parabola. A parabola is defined as follows: For a given point, called the focus, and a given line not through the focus, called the directrix, a parabola is the locus, or set of points, such that the distance to the focus equals the distance to the directrix."-http://www.mathwords.com/d/directrix_parabola.htm
parabola
A parabola.
parabola
The answer will depend onwhat you mean by "solving a parabola". A parabola has a directrix and a focus, a turning point, 0 1 or 2 roots and so on. Which of these is "solving"?The answer will depend onwhat you mean by "solving a parabola". A parabola has a directrix and a focus, a turning point, 0 1 or 2 roots and so on. Which of these is "solving"?The answer will depend onwhat you mean by "solving a parabola". A parabola has a directrix and a focus, a turning point, 0 1 or 2 roots and so on. Which of these is "solving"?The answer will depend onwhat you mean by "solving a parabola". A parabola has a directrix and a focus, a turning point, 0 1 or 2 roots and so on. Which of these is "solving"?
The vertex -- the closest point on the parabola to the directrix.