How to find the focus of a parabola given the equation?
The focus of a parabola is the unique point that is equidistant from each vertex. If the parabola is given in the form ax^2 + bxy +cy^2, the focus is at ( – b/a, c/a ). This can be seen by setting the x-coordinate of the vertex to 0 and solving for the y-coordinate of the focus.
How to find the vertex of a parabola given the equation?
First, set the equation equal to 0, and solve the resulting equation for x. If you have a negative x, the vertex is at infinity. If you have an imaginary number, the vertex is at the origin. If you do not have an imaginary number, the vertex is at the point (−b/2a, c/a). Now, use the vertex you found to plug into the vertex equation to find the vertex of the parabola
How to find
If you don’t know the focus, start by plugging the equation into WolframAlpha, which gives you the equation for the directrix (the line passing through the vertex that the parabola opens towards) and the vertex. After that, you can use the point of intersection of the directrix with the x-axis as the focus. This can be a little tricky since the parabola’s vertex may lie outside the interval you’ve given, but there
How to find the focus and directrix of a parabola given the equation?
If you are given the equation of a parabola and asked to find the focus, you can use the calculator equation above to do this. Given the equation of a parabola, you can find the vertex at (0, b) and the directrix at the line y = -b/2. The focus is the point of intersection of the parabola and the line perpendicular to the directrix at the vertex.
How to find the focal length of a parabola given the equation?
A parabola has two focal points: one at the vertex and the other at the focus. The vertex is the point where the parabola opens up, and the focus is the point along the parabola where the direct line from the vertex to the focus passes through the vertex. The line that passes through the vertex and goes towards the focus is called the directrix. The focal length is equal to the distance from the vertex to the focus along the directrix.