Write the equation of the parabola that passes through the points (1,0), (2,0), and (3,–16). Write your answer in the form y=a(x–p)(x–q), where a, p, and q are integers, decimals, or simplified fractions.______
Q. Write the equation of the parabola that passes through the points (1,0), (2,0), and (3,–16). Write your answer in the form y=a(x–p)(x–q), where a, p, and q are integers, decimals, or simplified fractions.______
Identify x-intercepts: We are given three points through which the parabola passes: (1,0), (2,0), and (3,–16). The points (1,0) and (2,0) are the x-intercepts of the parabola, which means they correspond to the values of p and q in the equation y=a(x–p)(x–q). Therefore, we can immediately identify p=1 and q=2.
Write parabola equation: Now that we have p and q, we can write the equation of the parabola as y=a(x–1)(x–2). However, we still need to find the value of the coefficient a. To do this, we will use the third point (3,–16) by substituting x with 3 and y with –16 in the equation and solving for a.
Substitute third point: Substituting the point (3,−16) into the equation gives us −16=a(3−1)(3−2). Simplifying the right side of the equation, we get −16=a(2)(1), which simplifies further to −16=2a. Dividing both sides by 2, we find that a=−16/2=−8.
Solve for coefficient a: Having found a=−8, we can now write the complete equation of the parabola. Substituting a, p, and q into y=a(x−p)(x−q) gives us the final equation y=−8(x−1)(x−2).
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