A landscaper wants to plan a walkway that passes between a tree and the border of the lawn. Using these as the focus and directrix, how can the landscaper plan a parabolic path that will be equidistant from the tree and the border at all times? Describe your method in full sentences.

Question

jagr2713 · Answer

@jim_thompson5910 
@No.name 
@Loser66

loser66 · Answer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parabola Look at the pic from the right . You can see the border is the x-axis, and the tree is the focus of the parabola. Imitate what they argue to your problem

jagr2713 · Answer

ok i see the X-asis so what now?

jagr2713 · Answer

@Loser66

loser66 · Answer

By definition, the parabola is equidistant from the tree and the border, 
From the tree, draw a line perpendicular to the border, it cut the border at A, ( it is the origin of the pic)
from A to the tree, divide the distance into 2 parts. The middle point is the vertex of parabola. .....then that is it. hehehe... My bad English is not qualify to describe the steps. That's why I ask you to imitate the site argument.

jagr2713 · Answer

so i just copy the site drawing?

loser66 · Answer

yes

jagr2713 · Answer

so i am just going to turn in the graph