For the equation of any graph. The graph intercepts the y-axis, when x is zero, so in the equation, substitute x=0, and solve for y. To find the x-intercept, this is when y is zero, so substitute y=0, and solve for x.
For a parabola, if the highest power of y is the 1st power (no exponent) and the highest power of x is 2, then the parabola opens up or down. The parabola will have 1 y-intercept (usually it is the constant value), and depending on where it is (if it is at the origin, it is also an x-intercept, and the other x-intercept has the same distance as y-intercept has from the axis of symmetry i.e y = a2x + bx), either have 2 x-intercepts, or no interceptions with the x-axis (i.e. y = x2 + c, c ≥ 0 or y = -x2 + c, c ≤ 0).
If the highest power of y is 2, and highest power of x is 1, then it opens left or right, and it may have none or 2 y-intercepts, and will have 1 x-intercept.
So when you're solving for the one that's a quadratic, if you come up with imaginary or complex roots, that means there is no intercept.
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If you know the equation, you just plug in x = 0 and solve.
X axis is across and Y axis is down
The quadratic (parabola) intercepts the x-axis when y = 0. So substitute y=0 into y = f(x). Then you can solve for the x-values by any number of ways: Factoring, completing the square, or Quadratic Formula. It may turn out that the values of x which satisfies y=0 are complex {have an imaginary component}, which will tell you that the parabola does not have an x-intercept.
Oh, finding the x and y intercepts is like finding little treasures in your painting. To find the x-intercept, you set y to zero and solve for x. To find the y-intercept, you set x to zero and solve for y. Remember, there are no mistakes in mathematics, just happy little accidents.
If the x intercept is a and the y intercept is b, then the equation of the line is bx + ay = ab