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Subject: 
Re: Yet another math problem
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.off-topic.geek
Date: 
Mon, 11 Nov 2002 18:35:35 GMT
Viewed: 
349 times
  
In lugnet.off-topic.geek, Dave Schuler writes:
This one should be pretty simple for you math-literate folks out there, but
it's giving me a dreadful time...

I have five points and am trying to define the parabola that contains them
(if such exists).  The points are:

(0,0) (which is also the vertex)
(14,100)
(-14,100)
(30,180)
(-30,180)

Does a parabola exist to fit those points?  And can someone direct me to a
good online walk-thru of the process?  I tried a googlesearch for "+parabola
+'three points' +equation" and got about 11,000 hits.

Thanks in advance for your help.  If the answer is "no parabola exists" I
can live with it, but I wanted to be sure.

Are you looking for the defining equation of the form

y = Ax2+Bx+c ??

or for something else?

If the former wouldn't you just solve for "A" and "B"  given that "C" is
known to be zero (since you said that 0,0 is a point and is the vertex it
implies that, ne?), by substituting in the known values for x and y and
solving the system of simultaneous equations?

I forget. No idea if that helps or not. But I think you have too many points
to be guaranteed it's a parabola. Or maybe not given that they're symmetric
about 0,0.



Message is in Reply To:
  Yet another math problem
 
This one should be pretty simple for you math-literate folks out there, but it's giving me a dreadful time... I have five points and am trying to define the parabola that contains them (if such exists). The points are: (0,0) (which is also the (...) (22 years ago, 11-Nov-02, to lugnet.off-topic.geek)

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