What determines whether a parabola will open up or down

Question

Mathematics

Chic

11 May, 13:06

What determines whether a parabola will open up or down

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Answers (2)

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Cyrus Swanson · Answer 1

If the coefficient of the leading term is positive, it opens up. If the coefficient of the leading term is negative, it opens down. The leading term is the ax^2 term.

Immanuel Pearson · Answer 2

A parabola will usually have an equation like y = - 2x^2 + 3x + 2 (2x squared) What determines whether it is up or down is the sign of the coefficient of the x squared term in this case it is - 2. If the sign of the coefficient is negative then it the open part of the parabola will be facing down.