Q. A parabola intersects the x-axis at x=3 and x=9.What is the x-coordinate of the parabola's vertex?
Identify Parabola Roots: The x-coordinates where the parabola intersects the x-axis are the roots of the parabola. For a parabola in standard form, y=ax2+bx+c, the x-coordinate of the vertex can be found using the formula −2ab. However, we do not have the coefficients a, b, and c. Instead, we can use the fact that the vertex of a parabola is exactly in the middle of the two x-intercepts for a vertical parabola.
Calculate Vertex X-coordinate: Calculate the midpoint between the two x-intercepts to find the x-coordinate of the vertex. The midpoint formula is (x1+x2)/2, where x1 and x2 are the x-intercepts.
Find Midpoint: Substitute the given x-intercepts into the midpoint formula: (3+9)/2.
Perform Calculation: Perform the calculation: (3+9)/2=12/2=6.
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