Problema Solution

A door is shaped like a parabola and 120 ft across while being 90 ft high. What is the equation of the parabolic door?

Answer provided by our tutors

Set your parabola so that the vertex is at (0,90). This means the two intercepts with x-axis are (-60,0) and (60,0).

The equation of parabola can be written as:

y = ax^2 + bx + c, where a, b, and c are constants

Since the parabola goes trough (0, 90) we can write:

90 = a*x^2 + b*0 + c

c = 90

Now the equation is: y = ax^2 + bx + 90.

The parabola goes trough (-60, 0) and (60, 0) means:

a(-60)^2 - 60b + 90 = 0

a(60)^2 + 60b + 90 = 0

That is we have the following system of equations:

3600a - 60b + 90 = 0

3600a + 60b + 90 = 0

........

click here to see the system of equations solved for a and b

........

a = - 1/40

b = 0

The equation of the door is:

y = (-1/40)x^2 + 90