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    charls1116's Avatar
    charls1116 Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Mar 23, 2009, 03:17 PM
    I need to find the distance from the focus to the vertex of a parabola
    My question is how can I find the distance from the focus to the vertex of a parabola with the given equation y^2=-10x. Can someone please explain and help me with the answer??
    ebaines's Avatar
    ebaines Posts: 12,131, Reputation: 1307
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    #2

    Mar 24, 2009, 09:16 AM

    You need to memorize the following: the basic form of the equation for a parabola is:




    Where is the coordinates of the vertex of the parabola, and p is the distance from the vertex to the focus.

    In your problem there's a bit of trick - the x and y coordinats are switched around (so that the parabola will be lying on its side). But the same concept aplies. So reconfigure your equation y^2 = -10x into the form:

    and you'll get your value for p.
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