4B  The Parabola th April

1. Sketch the following parabolas, stating the coordinates of the vertex and
any intercepts.
(a) y = (x + 1)(x − 3)
(b) y = x(4 − x)
(c) y = 9 − x2

2. Sketch the following parabolas, stating the coordinates of the vertex and
any intercepts.
(a) y = x2 + 8x + 15
(b) y = − 12 x2 + 2x + 6
(c) y = 2x2 − 8x + 8
(d) y = x2 + 4x − 3

3. A parabola has a y-intercept of −8 and x-intercepts of 1 and 4. Find the equation of

the parabola in expanded form.

4. A parabola has a single x-intercept, and a y-intercept of 6. The axis of symmetry of

the parabola has equation x = −3. Find the equation of the parabola in expanded
form.

5. The parabola y = (2m − 3)x2 + mx + 1 never crosses the x-axis. Find the possible
values of m.

6. A farmer creates a rectangular paddock using a wall as a pre-existing boundary.

If the farmer has 40 m of fencing to use, what are the dimensions of the paddock that
will give the greatest area? Justify your answer.

Test continues over page.

2 The Parabola

7. A length of wire 4 m long is cut into two pieces. The first piece is used to form an
equilateral triangle, and the second piece is used to form a square. Let the lengths of
wire be 3x and 4 − 3x respectively.
√
x2 3
(a) Show that the area of an equilateral triangle of side length x is units2 .
4
(b) Show that the combined area of the triangle and square can be expressed as the
√ !
9+4 3 3
quadratic A = x2 − x + 1.
16 2

(c) Find the side length of the equilateral triangle if the combined area is to be a
minimum. Give your answer correct to two decimal places.

8. Bob has been tasked with designing an efficient ship engine. The petrol usage per
hour (P , measured in litres/hour) of the ship is given by P = v 3 − 140v 2 + 5100v,
where v is the speed of the ship in km/h.
If the petrol tank of the ship has a capacity of 50 000 L, what is the maximum distance
that the ship can travel with one full tank of petrol?

RR SGS April 