A parabola can open left, down, right, or left on a graph, if that's what you mean:\
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If the value of the variable is negative then the parabola opens downwards and when the value of variable is positive the parabola opens upward.
The line of symmetry located on a parabola is right down the center. A parabola is a U shape. Depending on the direction of the parabola it either has a x axis of symmetry or y axis of symmetry. You should have two equal sides of the parabola.
A parabola is NOT a point, it is the whole curve.
To find the value of a in a parabola opening up or down subtract the y-value of the parabola at the vertex from the y-value of the point on the parabola that is one unit to the right of the vertex.
A parabola has a single focus point. There is a line running perpendicular to the axis of symmetry of the parabola called the directrix. A line running from the focus to a point on the parabola is going to have the same distance as from the point on the parabola to the closest point of the directrix. In theory you could look at a parabola as being an ellipse with one focus at infinity, but that really doesn't help any. ■