Download Equations of Lines and Quadratic Functions

Equations of Lines and Quadratic Functions
I.
Parallel Lines and Perpendicular Lines
We define parallel and perpendicular lines as follows:
Definition of Parallel and Perpendicular Lines
Let two lines be given with slopes m1 and m2.
1.
The lines are parallel if they have the same slope, that is
2.
m 1 = m2
The lines are perpendicular if
m1 = -1/m2
Example:
Find the equation of the line that passes through the point (1,4) and is
perpendicular to the line
3x - 2y = 5
Solution:
First notice that to find the equation of a line we need a point and a slope. We
have the point, namely (1,4). To get the slope we solve for y in the other line:
2y = 3x - 5
y = 3/2 x - 5/2
Since the slope of the perpendicular line is 3/2, the slope of our line is -2/3. Now
we use the point-slope form:
y - 4 = 3/2 (x - 1)
y = 3/2 x +5/2.
Recall that a horizontal line is of the form
y = constant
and a vertical line is of the form
x = constant
Example
Find the equation of the line through the point (5,4) that is vertical
Solution
We know that the form of the equation is:
x = constant
Since it passes through (5,4) which as x-coordinate 5 that constant must be 5. We
conclude that the equation of the line is
x=5
To interactively investigate equations of lines go to
http://mathcsjava.emporia.edu/~greenlar/ParPerp/ParPerp.html
II.
Quadratic Functions in Standard Form
Recall what the function
y = x2
looks like. It is a parabola with vertex at the origin. We can use shifting
techniques to graph
y = 3(x - 2)2 + 4
We see that the vertex is shifted to the right by 2 units and up 4 units. There is
vertical stretching by a factor of three. In general, we say that a quadratic is in
standard form if it looks like:
Standard Form of a Quadratic
y = a(x - h)2 + k
Here the h represents the horizontal shift, the k represents the vertical shift, and
the a represents the stretching factor. If a is negative the parabola is concave
down (looks like a frown).
To put a quadratic in standard form, we complete the square:
Example:
Put the following in standard form
y = 2x2 - 8x + 2
1.
Factor the leading coefficient:
2.
y = 2(x2 - 4x + 1)
Calculate
3.
-b/2: -(-4)/2 = 2
Square the solution above:
4.
22 = 4
Add and subtract answer from part three inside parentheses:
5.
y = 2(x2 - 4x + 4 - 4 + 1)
Regroup:
6.
y = 2[(x2 - 4x + 4 ) - 3]
Factor the inner parentheses using part two as a hint:
7.
y = 2[(x - 2)2 - 3]
Multiply out the outer constant:
y = 2(x - 2)2 - 6
III.
Applications:
Newton's law of motion:
Newton discovered that if an object is thrown from an initial height of s0 feet with
an initial velocity of v0 feet per second then the position of the function of the
object is
s = -16t2 + v0t + s0
Example:
If you throw a basketball from five feet with an initial velocity of 25 feet per
second, how long will it take to hit the ground? How high will the ball go and
when is this maximum height attained? For what times will the ball be higher
than 7 feet?
Solution
We have that
v0 = 25
and s0 = 5
so that
s = -16t2 + 25t + 5
When it hits the ground
s=0
or
0 = -16t2 + 25t + 5
We get the two solutions
t = 1.74 and t = -1.74
Notice that a negative time means is not the solution, hence the ball hits the
ground after 1.74 seconds.
To find out how high the ball will go, we are after the s coordinate of the vertex.
We put the equation into standard form
1.
Factor the leading coefficient:
2.
y = -16(x2 - 25/16 x - 5/16)
Calculate
3.
-b/2: -(25/16)/2 = -25/32
Square the solution above:
4.
(-25/32)2 = 0.61
Add and subtract answer from part three inside parentheses:
5.
y = -16(x2 - 25/16 x + 0.61 - 0.61 + 5/16)
Regroup:
6.
y = -16[(x2 - 25/16 x + 0.61 ) - 0.61]
Factor the inner parentheses using part two as a hint:
7.
y = -16[(x - 25/32)2 - 0.61]
Multiply out the outer constant:
y = -16(x - 25/32)2 + 9.77
Now we can say that the ball will reach a height of 9.77 feet 25/32 seconds after it
was released.
To find out when the ball will be higher than 7 feet we solve
7 < -16t2 + 25t + 5
or
0 < -16t2 + 25t - 2
Using the quadratic formula we find the roots at
t = 0.085 and t = 1.48
So that the ball will be higher than 7 feet between 0.085 seconds and 1.48
seconds.