maximum point :)
Vertex
The vertex is not affected by the direction that the parabola is facing. The vertex is the place where the two sides of the parabola meet. It is in the middle divides the shape in half. If you picture yourself looking at a bowl from the side and then imagining it as two dimensional, it would look like a parabola but for all of the filled in parts of the graph and the fact that the sides of the bowl don't continue on forever. The vertex is the bottom of the bowl, where the sides meet. You measure a vertex as you would a point; with a coordinate.
Since the vertex is at the origin and the parabola opens downward, the equation of the parabola is x2 = 4py, where p < 0, and the axis of symmetry is the y-axis. So the focus is at y-axis at (0, p) and the directrix equation is y = -p. Now, what do you mean with 1 and 76 units? 1.76 units? If the distance of the vertex and the focus is 1.76 units, then p = -1.76, thus 4p = -7.04, then the equation of the parabola is x2 = -7.04y.
It is (y - b)^2 = ax + c
The maximum point.
Finding the vertex of the parabola is important because it tells you where the bottom (or the top, for a parabola that 'opens' downward), and thus where you can begin graphing.
maximum point :)
maximum point :)
Is a parabola whose directrix is below its vertex.
Vertex
Opening up, the vertex is a minimum.
The vertex is not affected by the direction that the parabola is facing. The vertex is the place where the two sides of the parabola meet. It is in the middle divides the shape in half. If you picture yourself looking at a bowl from the side and then imagining it as two dimensional, it would look like a parabola but for all of the filled in parts of the graph and the fact that the sides of the bowl don't continue on forever. The vertex is the bottom of the bowl, where the sides meet. You measure a vertex as you would a point; with a coordinate.
Since the vertex is at the origin and the parabola opens downward, the equation of the parabola is x2 = 4py, where p < 0, and the axis of symmetry is the y-axis. So the focus is at y-axis at (0, p) and the directrix equation is y = -p. Now, what do you mean with 1 and 76 units? 1.76 units? If the distance of the vertex and the focus is 1.76 units, then p = -1.76, thus 4p = -7.04, then the equation of the parabola is x2 = -7.04y.
The standard equation for a Parabola with is vertex at the origin (0,0) is, x2 = 4cy if the parabola opens vertically upwards/downwards, or y2 = 4cx when the parabola opens sideways. As the focus is at (0,6) then the focus is vertically above the vertex and we have an upward opening parabola. Note that c is the distance from the vertex to the focus and in this case has a value of 6 (a positive number). The equation is thus, x2 = 4*6y = 24y
It is (y - b)^2 = ax + c
Opens downward.