GMAT Math : Graphing a quadratic function

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GMAT Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #65 : Coordinate Geometry

 has as its graph a vertical parabola on the coordinate plane. You are given that  and , but you are not given the value of .

Which of the following can you determine without knowing the value of  ?

I) Whether the graph is concave upward or concave downward

II) The location of the vertex

III) The location of the -intercept

IV) The locations of the -intercepts, if there are any

V) The equation of the line of symmetry

Possible Answers:

II and V only

III and IV only

I, II, and V only

I and V only

I, III, and IV only

Correct answer:

I and V only

Explanation:

I) The orientation of the parabola is determined solely by the sign of . Since , a positive value, the parabola can be determined to be concave upward.

II) The -coordinate of the vertex is ; since you given both  and , you can find this to be

The -coordinate is equal to . However, you need the entire equation to determine this value; since you do not know , you cannot find the -coordinate. Therefore, you cannot find the vertex.

 

III) The -intercept is the point at which ; by substitution, it can be found to be at  is unknown, so the -intercept cannot be found.

IV) The -intercept(s), if any, are the point(s) at which . This is solvable using the quadratic formula

Since all three of  and  must be known for this to be evaluated, and  is unknown, the -intercept(s) cannot be identified.

V) The line of symmetry has equation . When exploring the vertex, we found that this value is equal to , so the line of symmetry is the line of the equation .

The correct response is I and V only.

Example Question #66 : Coordinate Geometry

 has as its graph a vertical parabola on the coordinate plane. You are given that , but you are given no other information about these values.

Which of the following can you determine without knowing the value of  ?

I) Whether the graph is concave upward or concave downward

II) The location of the vertex

III) The location of the -intercept

IV) The locations of the -intercepts,or whether there are any

V) The equation of the line of symmetry

Possible Answers:

 I, IV, and V only

IV and V only

 I, II, IV, and V only

II and V only

II, IV, and V only

Correct answer:

 I, IV, and V only

Explanation:

I) The orientation of the parabola is determined solely by the sign of . It is given in the problem that  is negative, so it follows that the parabola is concave downward.

II) The -coordinate of the vertex is ; since , this number is . The -coordinate is , but since we do not know the values of , and , we cannot find this value. Therefore, we cannot know the vertex.

III) The -intercept is the point at which ; by substitution, it can be found to be at  is unknown, so the -intercept cannot be found.

IV) The -intercept(s), if any, are the point(s) at which . This is solvable using the quadratic formula

Since , this can be rewritten and simplified as follows:

However, since  has no real square root,  has no real solutions, and its graph has no -intercepts.

V) The line of symmetry has equation . When exploring the vertex, we found that this value is equal to , so the line of symmetry is the line of the equation .

The correct response is I, IV, and V only.

Example Question #67 : Coordinate Geometry

The graphs of the functions  and  have the same pair of -intercepts.

If we define , which of the following is a possible definition of  ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The -intercepts of the parabola 

can be determined by setting  and solving for :

 or 

The intercepts of the parabola are  and 

We can check each equation to see whether these two ordered pairs satisfy them.

 

:

 

 

 

 

Each of these equations has a parabola that does not have  as an -intercept. However, we look at 

 and  are also  -intercepts of the graph of this function, so this is the correct choice.

 

 

 

Example Question #68 : Coordinate Geometry

A vertical parabola has two -intercepts, one at   and one at .

Which of the following must be true about this parabola?

Possible Answers:

None of the statements in the other choices must be true.

The parabola must have the line of the equation  as its line of symmetry.

The parabola must have its -intercept at .

The parabola must have  as its vertex.

The parabola must be concave downward.

Correct answer:

The parabola must have the line of the equation  as its line of symmetry.

Explanation:

A parabola with its -intercepts at   and at  has as its equation

 

for some nonzero . If this is multiplied out, the equation can be rewritten as

or, simplified,

The sign of quadratic coefficient  determines whether it is concave upward or concave downward. We do not have the sign or any way of determining it.

The -coordinate of the -intercept is the contant, , but without knowing , we have no way of knowing .

The -coordinate of the vertex of   is the value . since , this expression becomes

The -coordinate is 

,

but without knowing , this coordinate, and the vertex itself, cannot be determined.

The line of symmetry is the line ; this value was computed to be equal to 6, so the line can be determined to be .

Example Question #69 : Coordinate Geometry

Which of the following is the equation of the line of symmetry of a vertical parabola on the coordinate plane with its vertex at  ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The line of symmetry of a vertical parabola is a vertical line, the equation of which takes the form  for some . The line of symmetry passes through the vertex, which here is , so the equation must be .

Example Question #1006 : Problem Solving Questions

Which of the following is the equation of the line of symmetry of a horizontal parabola on the coordinate plane with its vertex at  ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The line of symmetry of a horizontal parabola is a horizontal line, the equation of which takes the form  for some . The line of symmetry passes through the vertex, which here is , so the equation must be .

Example Question #11 : Graphing A Quadratic Function

The graphs of the functions  and  have the same -intercept.

If we define , which of the following is a possible definition of  ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The -coordinate of the -intercept of the graph of a function of the form  - a quadratic function - is the point . Since , the -intercept is at the point .

Because of this, the graph of  has its -intercept at . Among the other choices, only  has a graph with its -intercept also at .

Example Question #161 : Coordinate Geometry

The vertices of a triangle on the coordinate plane are the vertices and the -intercepts of the graph of the equation

.

What is the area of this triangle?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The vertex of the graph of a quadratic equation  can be found by setting , substituting, and solving for . Setting , this is

Substitute:

The vertex is the point .

The -intercepts can be found by  and solving for :

, in which case , or

, in which case .

The -intercepts are  and .

The triangle with vertices , and  is below:

Triangle 3

If we take the base to be the horizontal segment connecting the -intercepts, then

.

The height is therefore the vertical distance from this segment to the vertex, which is 

The area of the triangle is half their product:

.

 

Example Question #1008 : Problem Solving Questions

A triangle on the coordinate plane has as its vertices the -intercept and -intercepts of the graph of the equation

.

What is the area of this triangle?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The -intercept of the graph of , a parabola, can be found by setting  and solving for :

The -intercept is .

The -intercepts can be found by  and solving for :

, in which case , or

, in which case 

The two -intercepts are  and .

The triangle is shown below:

Triangle 3

If the segment connecting the points on the -axes is taken as the base, then 

The height is therefore the vertical distance from this segment to the point on the -axis, which is 

The area is half their product, or

.

Example Question #63 : Coordinate Geometry

 has as its graph a vertical parabola on the coordinate plane. You are given that , but you are given neither  nor .

Which of the following can you determine without knowing the values of  and  ?

I) Whether the curve opens upward or opens downward

II) The location of the vertex

III) The location of the -intercept

IV) The locations of the -intercepts, if there are any

V) The equation of the line of symmetry

Possible Answers:

II and V only

V only

III only

I only

III and IV only

Correct answer:

I only

Explanation:

I) The orientation of the parabola is determined solely by the value of . Since , the parabola can be determined to open upward.

II and V) The -coordinate of the vertex is ; since you are not given , you cannot find this. Also, since the line of symmetry has equation , for the same reason, you cannot find this either.

III) The -intercept is the point at which ; by substitution, it can be found to be at  is unknown, so the -intercept cannot be found.

IV) The -intercept(s), if any, are the point(s) at which . This is solvable using the quadratic formula

Since all three of  and  must be known for this to be evaluated, and only  is known, the -intercept(s) cannot be identified.

The correct response is I only.

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