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Mathematics 19 Online
OpenStudy (anonymous):

how do you tell what way a parabola is opening? x^2-7x+y=0

OpenStudy (anonymous):

Yours is opening up. If there was a negative sign in front of the x^2, it would be opening down

OpenStudy (accessdenied):

Hm.. we can only make that determination after we have y (or x if we involve the horizontal parabolas) isolated. Since we have y and x^2 - 7x on the same side, we need to move it over which will flip our sign!

OpenStudy (anonymous):

so then it will become -x^2

OpenStudy (accessdenied):

Yup, which actually makes this parabola face downwards. In general, y = ax^2 the sign of a always determines the direction of the parabola. :) Or x = ay^2 if we include the horizontal parabola, where a>0 makes the parabola point right.

OpenStudy (anonymous):

sweet thank you

OpenStudy (accessdenied):

Glad to help. :)

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