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Unread 17-02-2014, 19:16
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Re: Math Quiz: Parabola Path

Quote:
Originally Posted by Qbot2640 View Post
My mistake...I had all three equations together, and grabbed your original as the "bottom". The top I got (as you corrected my missing decimal) is 0.0351x^2 + 1

The bottom I got was 0.0474x^2 -1
The top equation y = -0.0351x^2 + 1 is still not right (even with the required "-" sign added back in )

The bottom equation y = -0.0474x^2 - 1 (with the "-" sign added) is a very good approximation in the given range, but as you can see in the attached graph, it diverges outside that range.

Quote:
I calculated two normal lines and found points that were 1 unit away from points on your given original.
You've got the right general idea.


Quote:
Then calculated the quadratics...
Hint#2: the top and bottom boundary curves are not true quadratics.


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