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Parabola

A parabola is a curve defined by points equidistant from a fixed point (focus) and a straight line (directrix). It has unique reflective properties, making it useful in applications like satellite dishes and spotlights. The document also provides equations for parabolas and measurements for constructing a parabolic dish.

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34 views4 pages

Parabola

A parabola is a curve defined by points equidistant from a fixed point (focus) and a straight line (directrix). It has unique reflective properties, making it useful in applications like satellite dishes and spotlights. The document also provides equations for parabolas and measurements for constructing a parabolic dish.

Uploaded by

aditi.bhasin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Parabola Page 1 of 4

Parabola

If you kick a soccer ball (or shoot an arrow, fire a missile


or throw a stone) it will arc up into the air and come down
again ...

... following the path of a parabola!

(Except for how the air affects it.)

Definition
A parabola is a curve where any point is at an
equal distance from:

z a fixed point (the focus), and


z a fixed straight line (the directrix)

Get a piece of paper, draw a straight line on it, then make a big dot for the focus (not on the
line!).

Now play around with some measurements until you have another dot that is exactly the same
distance from the focus and the straight line.

Keep going until you have lots of little dots, then join the little dots and you will have a parabola

Names
Here are the important names:

z the directrix and focus (explained above)


z the axis of symmetry (goes through the
focus, at right angles to the directrix)
z the vertex (where the parabola makes its

http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/parabola.html 1/18/2010
Parabola Page 2 of 4

sharpest turn) is halfway between the focus


and directrix.

Reflector
And a parabola has this amazing property:

Any ray parallel to the axis of symmetry gets


reflected off the surface straight to the focus.

So the parabola can be used for:

z satellite dishes,
z radar dishes,
z concentrating the sun's rays to make a hot spot,
z the reflector on spotlights and torches,
z etc

And that explains why that dot is called the focus ... because that's where all
the rays get focused!

You can also get a parabola when you slice through a cone (the
slice must be parallel to the side of the cone).

Therefore, the parabola is a conic section (a section of a cone).

http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/parabola.html 1/18/2010
Parabola Page 3 of 4

Equations
If you place the parabola on the cartesian
coordinates (x-y graph) with:

z its vertex at the origin "O" and


z its axis of symmetry lying on the x-axis,

then the curve is defined by:

y2 = 4ax

Example: Where is the focus in the equation y2=5x ?

Converting y2 = 5x to y2 = 4ax form, we get y2 = 4 (5/4) x,


so a = 5/4, and the focus of y2=5x is:
F = (a,0) = (5/4,0)

The equations of parabolas in different orientations are as follows:

y2 = 4ax y2 = -4ax x2 = 4ay x2 = -4ay

http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/parabola.html 1/18/2010
Parabola Page 4 of 4

Measurements for a Parabolic Dish


If you want to build a parabolic dish where the focus is 200 mm above the surface, what
measurments do you need?

To make it easy to build, let's have it pointing upwards, and so we choose the x2 = 4ay
equation.

And we want "a" to be 200, so the equation becomes:

x2 = 4ay = 4 × 200 × y = 800y

Rearranging so we can calculate heights:

y = x2/800

And here are some height measurments as you run along:

Distance Along ("x") Height ("y")


0 mm 0.0 mm
100 mm 12.5 mm
200 mm 50.0 mm
300 mm 112.5 mm
400 mm 200.0 mm
500 mm 312.5 mm
600 mm 450.0 mm

If you build one tell me, and I can include a picture of it!

{ Conic Sections
{ Geometry Index

http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/parabola.html 1/18/2010

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