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What is the focus of the parabola y=x2y = -x^2?\newlineSimplify any fractions.\newline(_____ , _____)\newline

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Q. What is the focus of the parabola y=x2y = -x^2?\newlineSimplify any fractions.\newline(_____ , _____)\newline
  1. Equation of the Parabola: We have the equation of the parabola: y=x2y = -x^2. This is a vertical parabola that opens downwards because the coefficient of x2x^2 is negative.
  2. Standard Form of a Vertical Parabola: The standard form of a vertical parabola is y=a(xh)2+ky = a(x - h)^2 + k, where (h,k)(h, k) is the vertex of the parabola. In our case, the equation y=x2y = -x^2 can be rewritten as y=1(x0)2+0y = -1(x - 0)^2 + 0, which means that a=1a = -1, h=0h = 0, and k=0k = 0.
  3. Calculating the Focus: The focus of a parabola is located at (h,k+p)(h, k + p), where pp is the distance from the vertex to the focus and is calculated by the formula p=14ap = \frac{1}{4a}. Since a=1a = -1, we can calculate pp as follows: p=14(1)=14p = \frac{1}{4(-1)} = -\frac{1}{4}.
  4. Finding the Focus: Now that we have p=14p = -\frac{1}{4}, we can find the focus of the parabola. The focus will be at (h,k+p)=(0,0+(14))=(0,14)(h, k + p) = (0, 0 + (-\frac{1}{4})) = (0, -\frac{1}{4}).

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