COuld you explain this to me?

Question

Can someone explain this formula to me? y = Ax^2+B

Answer 1

Hi. The value represented by the symbol 'y' is equal to the value obtained when you multiply the value of 'A' times the value of 'x squared' plus the value of 'B'. It's just a formula.

Answer 2

Greg,

This is the following y is a function of x. A and B are constants, they could be whatever number you like, for example 4 and 1. Then you would have the following y=4x^2+1.
The symbol ^ means you are exponentiating something to some power. In this case you are exponentiating to 2.
If we translate your original formula from math language to English you would have the following sentence:

y equals A times x exponentiated to 2 plus B

Remember that A and B are constants and can be whatever number you'd like.

In the example we gave with 4 and 1 you would have:

y equals 4 times x exponentiated to 2 plus 1.

Suppose if this is the original formula:

y = 4x^2 + 1

Now let's get some y values for x equals to 1, 2 and 3
for x = 1:
y = 4 * 1^2 + 1 = 4 * 1 + 1 = 5

for x = 2:
y = 4 * 2^2 + 1 = 4 * 4 + 1 = 17

for x = 3
y = 4 * 3^2 + 1 = 3 * 9 + 1 = 28

I hope this helps.

A good site for you to search about math is mathworld.wolfram.com

Take care,

Livius

Answer 3

It is the generic equation for a parabola (quadratic) that is centered on x=0. The B constant will move the parabola 'up' or 'down'. For example, if B were -6, the parabola would move 6 units in the negative y direction. If B were 6, the parabola would move 6 units in the positive y direction. 1/A is the dilation factor from the y axis. For example, if A were 2, the parabola would be dilated 1/2 units from the y-axis and if A were 1/2, the parabola would be dilated 2 units from the y-axis.

Answer 4

It's a parabola centered on the Y axis. B denotes the intercept on the Y axis, A determines how steep or shallow the curve is.

So, you could try an example, and for simplicity sake (as a starting point) assume A= 1 and B= 0. Then, the center inflection point would be when x=0, y=0; then try the value for x=1. (You'll get 1,1). For x= -1, you'll get (-1,1); for x=2, you get (-2, 4), etc. That's the basic curve. Then for values of B, you would just shift it up or down on your graph. And for values of A, it would either be narrower/steeper if A>1, or shallower if A<1.

Answer 5

equation for a parabola.

basically y = x^2

The values for A and B can be changed to modify the shape of the parabola. For example, y = x^2 + 16 will make the parabola 16 units higher than normal. Play with A and see what happens!

Answer 6

This is a parabola. The equation is a particular case of the general parabola equation:

y = ax^2 + bx + c.

Answer 7

This is the function for a parabola translated up B units and widened or narrowed by a factor of A.

Answer 8

you have to plug in numbers for a, b and x if you are looking to find an answer.