galactus
Mar 6, 2010, 12:33 PM
Complete the square and we see the form:
(x-h)^{2}=\pm 4p(y-k)
Where (h,k) is the vertex coordinates and p is the distance from the focus to the vertex and from the vertex to the directrix.
We get (x-4)^{2}=-24y
We can see that (h,k)=(4,0)
and since 4p=-24, then |p|=6
Thus,the focus coordinates are F(4,-6).
The directrix is the same distance from the vertex as the focus is.
Graph it and see.