Question

A cross section of a flashlight reflector is a parabola. The bulb is located at the focus. Suppose the bulb is located 8 in. from the vertex of the reflector. You can model the reflector with a parabola that opens upward and has a vertex at the origin. Write an equation of the parabola to model the cross section of the reflector.

Answer 1

@ganeshie8

Answer 2

so the focus is 8 inches from the vertex notice the distance form the vertex to the focus

\(\bf (x-{\color{brown}{ h}})^2=4{\color{blue}{ p}}(y-{\color{brown}{ k}})
\\ \quad \\
center\ ({\color{brown}{ h,k}})\quad {\color{blue}{ p}}=\textit{distance from the vertex to the focus}\)