what is a parabola?

Answer 1

Paraobola is defined as the locus of points P such that the distance from a line (called the directrix) to P is equal to the distance from P to a fixed point F (called the focus). Parabola has eccentricity e:=1.

for detailed explanation go through the link below:

Answer 2

Urm the parabolas I've learnt about are in maths, so i don't know if this is what you meen but I'll have a go explaining anyway lol. It's when you substitute numbers into a quadratic formula and plot the points on the graph- you then get a parabola ,which is basically an arch.
You can get 2 different types of parabolas- one is negative the other is positive. I always remember which ones which because the positive one is how you draw a smile and the negative one is how you draw a frown lol sorry if that sounds a bit silly but it's just an easy way I've found helps remember and explain it a bit.

Answer 3

A parabola (plural "parabolas"; Gray 1997, p. 45) is the set of all points in the plane equidistant from a given line (the conic section directrix) and a given point not on the line (the focus). The focal parameter (i.e., the distance between the directrix and focus) is therefore given by , where is the distance from the vertex to the directrix or focus. The surface of revolution obtained by rotating a parabola about its axis of symmetry is called a paraboloid.


The parabola was studied by Menaechmus in an attempt to achieve cube duplication. Menaechmus solved the problem by finding the intersection of the two parabolas and . Euclid wrote about the parabola, and it was given its present name by Apollonius . Pascal considered the parabola as a projection of a circle, and Galileo showed that projectiles falling under uniform gravity follow parabolic paths. Gregory and Newton considered the catacaustic properties of a parabola that bring parallel rays of light to a focus (MacTutor Archive), as illustrated above.

For a parabola opening to the right with vertex at (0, 0), the equation in Cartesian coordinates is

I heard about it and I saw one in Japan...

Answer 4

A parabola is a plane curve formed by the intersection of a right circular cone and a plane parallel to an element of the cone or by the locus of points equidistant from a fixed line and a fixed point not on the line.

On the other hand a parable is a simple story illustrating a moral or religious lesson.

Answer 5

The word parabola refers to something that goes along with something, from the latin para: along with, and bollein: thrown.

This means that a parabola, or parable, is an explanation or a definition that goes together with a message (not directly referred to).

Another way to put this is that a parable is a concept that delivers a message indirectly through an analogy.

Answer 6

a parabola is y=x2 (with 'x' a power of 2)

in the xy graph the graph of a parabola will be like a shape of 'U' or "n" if the value is a negative

Answer 7

in simple terms Parabola is a set of 2 arcs one opposite to eachother which go flat but never touch each other

Answer 8

A parabola is an arc or arch. Like a semi circle but more oval.

Answer 9

A parabola basically means a curve.It actually refers to a type of graph,that is curved in shape.It also refrs to any object in the shape of a dish antennae.

Answer 10

a geomterical construction satisfying the equation y=k(x*x) is called parabola.
y= y cordinate
x= x cordinate
k = a constant