Parabola Geometry

In his representation of a parabola, Galileo lightened the path of an object thrown in space (a ball) is a parabola. He was the first to demonstrate this. According to Dictionary.com, a parabola is "a set of points that are equidistant from a fixed line and a fixed point in the same plane or in a parallel plane." It has a shape of a U-curve. A simple parabola contains a vertex, a y and x- intercepts, and an axis of symmetry. These parts can be defined by observing a quadratic equation. The coordinating pair of 'h' and 'k' represents the vertex. You can also find out the y- intercept by plugging in zero to the x and vice versa. A quadratic equation is also used in deter- mining if the parabola opens upward or downward. If the coefficient 'a'

When airplanes were first being invented, no one tried to use science and math to figure out some very basic problems. Now, mathematics has become the heart of designing airplanes. One of the major components of math used in airplanes is the parabola. The parabola used in the front of the plane at the nose helps reduce the drag on an airplane. The drag influences the speed and aerodynamics of the airplane: the more drag, the slower and less efficient the design. The parabola nose reduces the drag by making it easier to go through the air molecules than a blunt nose or a conic nose. The conic nose is for speed and cutting ability, but is dangerous, since the nose can burn up much

Most of the best roller coasters are parabolic because the shape produces greater thrills and excitement for the riders. When the coaster descends from the maximum height of the parabola, everything falls at the same rate. Riders also felt weightless as gravity is the only active force with zero air resis- tance. As a result, the parabolic shape of the coaster enables riders to experience a safe, fun, and tremendous feeling of defying gravity during the free fall. Therefore, many amusement parks use parabolas to attract visitors and make