Dar es Salaam International Academy

Summative Assessment Task Sheet

MYP

Name of the student: Ömer Güllüoğlu

Subject: Mathematics
Grade: 10 Date: 5thDecember 2022

Criterion: D Applying mathematics in real-life contexts

v. Justify whether a solution makes sense in the context of the

authentic real-life situation.

Unit Title: quadratic equation

Task :
 Criterion C: communication
0 0
The student does not reach a standard described
by any of the descriptors below.
1-2
The student is able to:
i. use limited mathematical language
ii. use limited forms of mathematical representation
to present information
iii. communicate through lines of reasoning that are
difficult to interpret.
3-4
The student is able to:
i. use some appropriate mathematical language
ii. use appropriate forms of mathematical
representation to present information adequately
iii. communicate through lines of reasoning that are
complete
iv. adequately organize information using a logical
structure.
5-6
The student is able to:
i. usually use appropriate mathematical language
ii. usually use appropriate forms of mathematical
representation to present information correctly
iii. usually move between different forms of
mathematical representation
iv. communicate through lines of reasoning that are
complete and coherent
v. present work that is usually organized using a
logical structure.
7-8
The student is able to:
i. consistently use appropriate mathematical
language
ii. use appropriate forms of mathematical
representation to consistently present information
correctly
iii. move effectively between different forms of
mathematical representation
iv. communicate through lines of reasoning that are
complete, coherent and concise
v. present work that is consistently organized using
a logical structure.
Criterion D: mathematics in real life
The student does not reach a standard described
by any of the descriptors below.
1-2
The student is able to:
i. identify some of the elements of the authentic
real-life situation
ii. apply mathematical strategies to find a solution to
the authentic real-life situation, with limited success.
3-4
The student is able to:
i. identify the relevant elements of the authentic
real-life situation
ii. select, with some success, adequate
mathematical strategies to model the authentic
real-life situation
iii. apply mathematical strategies to reach a solution
to the authentic real- life situation
iv. discuss whether the solution makes sense in the
context of the authentic real-life situation.
5-6
The student is able to:
i. identify the relevant elements of the authentic
real-life situation
ii. select adequate mathematical strategies to model
the authentic real- life situation
iii. apply the selected mathematical strategies to
reach a valid solution to the authentic real-life
situation
iv. explain the degree of accuracy of the solution
v. explain whether the solution makes sense in the
context of the authentic real-life situation.
7-8
The student is able to:
i. identify the relevant elements of the authentic
real-life situation
ii. select appropriate mathematical strategies to
model the authentic real- life situation
iii. apply the selected mathematical strategies to
reach a correct solution to the authentic real-life
situation
iv. justify the degree of accuracy of the solution
v. justify whether the solution makes sense in the
 context of the authentic real-life situation.

Given a quadratic equation, you can sketch its graph by finding its x-
and y-intercepts and vertex. If you start with a parabola, how can you
find its quadratic function?
There are different methods to do this, however, the easiest one is using the vertex form
as long as the vertex is known. The vertex coordinates can be used in the equation
y=a(x-h)2+k where h is the x and k is the y coordinate of the vertex. Then, any other
point’s coordinates can be used as the x and y values in order to find the leading
coefficient (a). After the formula is rewritten using the vertex and the leading coefficient,
you will have the quadratic function of the parabola in vertex form. An example of the
use of this method can be seen in the question below.
In order to write a quadratic equation with vertex, we need to start with the vertex form:
y = a(x-h)2 + k

So, we need to know the a (the leading coefficient), and the vertex’s x and y coordinates
(h and k). We already know the h and k values as it’s given in the question as 0 and 7
respectively. Therefore, we only need to find out what the leading coefficient is.
When we plug the h and k values into the formula, we get this equation:

y = a(x-0)2 + 7 Filling the values of h and k using the vertex from the graph
y = ax2+7 (x-0)2 = x2 - 0x + 0 = x2 using the formula for (a-b)2, so a(x-0)2 = ax2

If we just use the x-intercept at the right (4.4, 0) in order to fill in the x and y values, we
get this equation:
y = ax2+7 This is the equation we got in the previous step
2
0 = a(4.4) + 7 X and Y have been filled
0 = 19.36a + 7 4.4 has been squared to get 19.36
-7 = 19.36a Taking 7 to the other side to leave a alone
a = -0.36157 Dividing both sides by 19.36 to leave a alone and then rounding up.

Now that we have the leading coefficient (a), we can go back to the vertex form and
plug the numbers in, and get this equation:

y = a(x-h)2 + k This is the vertex formula from the beginning

y = -0.36157(x-0)2 + 7 Fill in the values
y = -0.36157x2 + 7 This is the final quadratic equation

To verify, we can use a graphing calculator such as GeoGebra with the image to see if it
matches:

And yes, the fountain in the image does

match with the parabola we drew using the
formula y = -0.36157x2 + 7. So we can also
say that the information given to us is
enough information to write the equation.
Again, find the general form of the quadratic that models the fountain stream, but
this time use the other x-intercept to find the leading coefficient a. Is it the same
function?
If we go back to the solution above, we see that we have used the x-intercept at the
right (4.4, 0) to fill this equation:
y = ax2+7

Now, we can use the one at the left (-4.4, 0) in order to fill the same equation.
y = ax2+7 This is the equation we got in the first step of the last question
2
0 = a(-4.4) + 7 We are using the x and y values of the intercept to fill it
0 = 19.36a + 7 (-4.4)2 is 19.36
-7 = 19.36a Taking 7 to the other side to leave a alone
a = -0.36157 Dividing both sides by 19.36 to leave a alone

y = a(x-h)2 + k This is the vertex formula in the beginning

y = -0.36157(x-0)2 + 7 Fill in the values
y = -0.36157x2 + 7 This is the final quadratic equation

And we see that, yes, the function is the same.

Does your quadratic function exactly model the parabolic function, or is it an
approximate model? Explain.

It is an approximate model because it just takes

the approximate numbers of the parabola. This
can never be fully avoided for two reasons.
First, as it is a photo from real life, the line water
forms is not a theoretical line that has no
thickness. So it passes through multiple points
on the intercepts as seen in the example at the
left that shows the x-intercept at the right. For
example, we could take 4.3 as the x-intercept
value and it would still be correct as it also
passes through 4.3 (refer to the image at the
left).

Another example of this same effect of the thickness can be seen in

the example at the right. The green line is the parabola we drew using
the calculations but we see that there is water anywhere between the
red lines.

Secondly, It is affected by things like air resistance, water

pressure, surface tension, and wind. Because of these, it does not
form a perfectly accurate parabola. It gets affected by these factors on its way. If we
look at the x-intercept at the left (seen in the image at the right), we can see that water
gets separated and passes through a lot more points on the x-intercept than the given
one (-4.4, 0). Water does not have a uniform shape because of the factors discussed
above.

In conclusion, I think that the equation we find out gives us enough of an

understanding to have a generally correct shape as all of the line is on the water flow
but it doesn’t hold up when we zoom in to see the details. I think that this is because the
formulas we use are made for theoretical calculations but this situation is a lot more
complex with many other factors such as air resistance, pressure, and wind. But as
discussed, it’s still accurate to a great extent.
What minimum information do you need to determine the equation of a quadratic
function?
The minimum information needed to write a specific quadratic equation is the
coordinates of the vertex and one other point on the parabola. Using these two points,
we can solve for the quadratic equation with the vertex form (y=a(x-h)2+k) as seen in the
examples above.

However, if the vertex point of the parabola is unknown, we can use simultaneous
equations to write the quadratic equation. In any quadratic equation, there are a
maximum of three unknown variables in any form:
y = ax2 + bx + c has a, b, and c
y = a(x-p)(x-q) has a, p, and q
y = a(x-h)2 + k has a, h, and k

Using our knowledge from simultaneous equations, we know that in order to solve for n
amount of unknown variables, we need to have at least n number of unique equations.
Therefore, we can say that in order to solve for a maximum of three unknown variables
in a quadratic equation, we will need at least three unique equations. And this
corresponds to the different points that are on the parabola as each of these points are
going to give us a different equation of f(x) = ax2 + bx + c. With these three unique
equations, we can solve for the values using many different methods such as the matrix
method, the elimination method and so on.

In conclusion, the minimum information we need to determine the equation of a

quadratic equation is either the coordinates of the vertex and one other point on the
parabola, or, if the vertex is unknown, the coordinates of any three unique points on the
parabola.
When finding the equation of a quadratic equation, under what circumstances
would you use:
i. Standard form
ii. Vertex form
iii. Factorized form?

Standard form: y = ax2 + bx + c

When finding the equation of a quadratic equation, you can use the standard form if you
do not know the vertex nor the roots of the parabola. The points can be put to standard
form and simultaneous equations can be used to solve for the quadratic equation.

For example, if we have the points (2, 3), (4, 5), and (7, 4), we can use the standard form to get
the following three equations for each point respectively:
y = ax2 + bx + c
Eqtn 1: 3 = a(2)2 + b(2) + c = 4a + 2b + c
Eqtn 2: 5 = a(4)2 + b(4) + c = 16a + 4b + c
Eqtn 3: 4 = a(7)2 + b(7) + c = 49a + 7b + c

Now, we need to eliminate one of the variables in order to get two equations with two
unknowns. For this example, we can eliminate c as it’s easier to do the calculations.
Eqtn 4: Eqtn 2 - Eqtn 1: 2 = 12a + 2b
Eqtn 5: Eqtn 3 - Eqtn 1: 1 = 45a + 5b

This system then can easily be solved. For example we can simplify Eqtn 4 to:
Eqtn 4: 2 = 12a + 2b
1 = 6a + b Divide everything by 2 to get b instead of 2b
b = 1 - 6a Get 6a to the other side to leave b alone

We can then use this value of b in Eqtn 5 and get:

Eqtn 5: 1 = 45a + 5b
1 = 45a + 5(1-6a) b = 1-6a so we can replace 5b with 5(1-6a)
1 = 45a + 5 - 30a 5(1-6a) = 5 - 30a using the distributive property
1 = 15a + 5 45a - 30a = 15a
15a = -4 Taking the 5 to the other side to leave a alone
a = -4/15 = -0.267 Dividing both sides by 15 to leave a alone

Then we can use this value of a in Eqtn 5 and get:

1 = 45a + 5b This is Eqtn 5
1 = 45(-4/15) + 5b a = -4/15 so we can replace 45a with 45(-4/15)
1 = -180/15 + 5b 45(-4/15) = -180/15
1 = 5b -12 -180/15 = -12
5b = 13 Taking 12 to the other side to leave b alone
b = 13/5 = 2.6 Dividing both sides by 13 to leave b alone
And using these two values with Eqtn 1 we get:
Eqtn 1: 3 = 4a + 2b + c
3 = 4(-4/15) + 2(13/5) + c Plugging the values of a and b the way we just calculated.
3 = -16/15 + 26/5 + c Multiplying a and b with their coefficients
3 = -1.067 + 5.2 + c Doing the divisions of the fractions to get decimal numbers
3 = 4.133 + c Adding the decimal numbers
c = -1.133 Getting 4.133 to the other side to leave c alone

Now that we have a, b, and c; we can get the final equation in standard form:
y = -0.267x2 + 2.6x - 1.133

And we can use Geogebra to verify this

equation to see that the parabola does
pass through all of the points, meaning
that it is correct.

Vertex form: y = a(x-h)2 + k

The vertex form of a quadratic equation can be used when the vertex of the parabola is
known. You can use the vertex’s coordinates with this form and the coordinates of the
other point and solve for the quadratic equation. An example of this method can be
seen in the first question.

Factorized form: y = a(x-p)(x-q)

This form can be used while writing the quadratic equations when all of the x-intercepts
are known. The equation can be filled using the x coordinates of the intercepts and
another point on the line can be used to find the leading coefficient (a). We can use the
values from the water fountain example in the beginning as we know both of the roots of
that parabola.

Points: (-4.4, 0) (4.4, 0) (0, 7)

y= a(x-p)(x-q) This is the factored form of a quadratic equation.

y = a(x + 4.4)(x - 4.4) We can use -4.4 as p and 4.4 as q as these are our roots.
y = a(x2 - 4.4x + 4.4x -19.36) Using FOIL to simplify this equation.
y = a(x2 - 19.36) -4.4x + 4.4x = 0
y = ax2 - 19.36a Using the distributive property.

Now, we can use the other coordinate, (0, 7) to get the leading coefficient.
y = ax2 - 19.36a
7 = a(0)2 - 19.36a
7 = -19.36a
a = 7/-19.36 = -0.361570

Now that we have the values of a, p, and q, we can write the equation:
y = -0.36157(x+4.4)(x-4.4)

And we can also see that when we use FOIL to turn this to general form, we will
see that it is the same as the equation we found in the first question, proving that
it is true.