Squaring and simplifying produces the following.
2 22
22 2
2
2
(^1144)
21611216
(^22).
xy y
xyyyy
x yy
xy
§·§· ̈ ̧ ̈ ̧©¹©¹
This parabola is indeed the graph of y = x^2.
Study Tip
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study tips for this lesson other than to enjoy the lesson.
Pitfall
x Don’t forget to keep the geometry of conics in mind if you later study conics in an algebra course.
- A stick of butter is the shape of a rectangular prism
with a square cross section.
If we cut the stick with a vertical cut parallel to a
square face, the cross section obtained is a square,
as shown in Figure 29.8.
If we tilt the plane, we obtain a rectangle, as shown
in Figure 29.9.
Problems
square
Figure 29.8
rectangleFigure 29.9