What determines whether a parabola will open up or down

Question

Kelsey Orozco

Mathematics

23 December, 18:42

What determines whether a parabola will open up or down

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Answers (2)

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Jaylen George · Answer 1

If the coefficient of the leading term is positive, it opens up. If the coefficient of the leading term is negative, it opens down. The leading term is the ax^2 term.

Maggie · Answer 2

A parabola will usually have an equation like y = - 2x^2 + 3x + 2 (2x squared) What determines whether it is up or down is the sign of the coefficient of the x squared term in this case it is - 2. If the sign of the coefficient is negative then it the open part of the parabola will be facing down.