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The line perpendicular to the directrix and passing through the focus (that is, the line that splits the parabola through the middle) is called the "axis of symmetry". The point where the parabola intersects its axis of symmetry is called the "vertex" and is the point where the parabola is most sharply curved. The distance between the vertex ...
A parabola may also be defined in terms of its focus and latus rectum line (parallel to the directrix and passing through the focus): it is the locus of points whose distance to the focus plus or minus the distance to the line is equal to 2a; plus if the point is between the directrix and the latus rectum, minus otherwise.
The vertex of a parabola is the place where it turns; hence, it is also called the turning point. If the quadratic function is in vertex form, the vertex is ( h , k ) . Using the method of completing the square, one can turn the standard form
If the parabola is tangent to the x-axis, there is a double root, which is the x-coordinate of the contact point between the graph and parabola. If the parabola does not intersect the x-axis, there are two complex conjugate roots. Although these roots cannot be visualized on the graph, their real and imaginary parts can be. [17]
Four points do not determine a conic, but rather a pencil, the 1-dimensional linear system of conics which all pass through the four points (formally, have the four points as base locus). Similarly, three points determine a 2-dimensional linear system (net), two points determine a 3-dimensional linear system (web), one point determines a 4 ...
The universal parabolic constant is the red length divided by the green length. The universal parabolic constant is a mathematical constant.. It is defined as the ratio, for any parabola, of the arc length of the parabolic segment formed by the latus rectum to the focal parameter.
Consequently, any point not on the axis of symmetry lies on two confocal parabolas which intersect orthogonally (see below). A circle is an ellipse with both foci coinciding at the center. Circles that share the same focus are called concentric circles, and they orthogonally intersect any line passing through that center.
Such function defines a line that passes through the origin of the coordinate system, that is, the point (,) = (,). In advanced mathematics texts, the term linear function often denotes specifically homogeneous linear functions, while the term affine function is used for the general case, which includes b ≠ 0 {\displaystyle b\neq 0} .