Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Region III
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF ZAMBALES
Zone 6, Iba, Zambales
Tel./Fax No. (047) 602 1391
E-mail Address: zambales@deped.gov.ph
website: www.depedzambales.ph

Name: _________________________________ Grade/Section__________

School: _________________________________ Date: __________________

LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET

PRE-CALCULUS
Quarter 1: Week 2

I. Introduction
Conic sections also known as conics can be obtained from the intersection
of a plane and a cone. There are four ways of identifying conics (a) by cutting
plane, (b) by discriminant, (c) by eccentricity and (d) by equations.

This lesson covers the conics called parabola, in the next part you will able
to understand how the parabola is being generated like the other conics, you
will learn how to derive the standard equation of a parabola, and you’ll be able
to identify whether the parabola opens upward, downward, to the right or to the
left. .

II. Learning Competency

Define a Parabola (STEM_PC11AGIa-5) and determine the standard
form of equation of a parabola (STEM_PC11AGIb-1)
III. Objectives:
At the end of this learning activity sheet, you are expected to:

1. Define a parabola;
2. Derive the standard equation of a parabola based on its definition ;
3. Identify the constant values needed to determine the standard equation
of a parabola ;

IV. Discussion
A. Definition of Parabola

Parabola is a conic section that can be obtained when the plane intersect
parallel to the element of the double-napped cone to form an unbounded curve
as shown in figure 1. It is also defined as the set of all points such that its
distance from the focus (fixed point) and from the directrix (fixed line) are the
same as shown in figure 2.

Figure 1. Intersection of a Plane and a Cone.

Consider the parabola with focus F(ℎ, 𝑘 + 𝑐) and directrix (𝒍) having equation 𝑦 =
𝑘 − 𝑐. As shown in figure 2, the focus and directix have the same distance from
the vertex that is denoted as c[JAS1]. Let P(x,y) be a point on the parabola, from
these points lets derive the standard equation of a parabola that opens upward.
 𝑓
𝑑

Figure 2. Lines and Points of Parabola

Based on the definition.

𝑃𝐹 = 𝑃𝑙
𝑓=𝑑
Using distance formula:
2 2
√(𝑥 − ℎ)2 + (𝑦 − (𝑘 + 𝑐 )) = √(𝑥 − 𝑥 )2 + (𝑦 − (𝑘 − 𝑐 ))
Squaring both sides of the equation
2 2
(𝑥 − ℎ)2 + (𝑦 − (𝑘 + 𝑐 )) = (𝑥 − 𝑥 )2 + (𝑦 − (𝑘 − 𝑐 ))

Apply expansions of equation.

(𝑥 − ℎ)2 + 𝑦 2 − 2𝑦(𝑘 + 𝑐 ) + (𝑘 + 𝑐 )2 = 𝑦 2 − 2𝑦(𝑘 − 𝑐 ) + (𝑘 − 𝑐 )2

Cancel the term 𝑦 2 and expand the remaining quadratic expressions except (𝑥 −
ℎ )2 .
(𝑥 − ℎ)2 − 2𝑘𝑦 − 2𝑐𝑦 + 𝑘 2 + 2𝑐𝑘 + 𝑐 2 = −2𝑘𝑦 + 2𝑐𝑦 + 𝑘 2 − 2𝑐𝑘 + 𝑐 2
Simplify the equation.
(𝑥 − ℎ)2 − 2𝑐𝑦 + 2𝑐𝑘 = 2𝑐𝑦 − 2𝑐𝑘
Transpose −2𝑐𝑦 and 2𝑐𝑘 to the left side of the expression
(𝑥 − ℎ)2 = 2𝑐𝑦 + 2𝑐𝑦 − 2𝑐𝑘 − 2𝑐𝑘
Combine same terms
(𝑥 − ℎ)2 = 4𝑐𝑦 − 4𝑐𝑘
Factor-out 4c, the resulting expression is the standard equation of the parabola
whose curve opens upward with vertex located at the lowest point of the curve.
(𝑥 − ℎ)2 = 4𝑐(𝑦 − 𝑘)

B. Features of the graph of parabola[JAS2].

Figure 3. Parabola

 Axis of symmetry - the line passing through the focus and

perpendicular to the directrix.
 Vertex (𝒉, 𝒌) - the midpoint of the segment of the axis from the
focus to the directrix.
 Latus Rectum (𝑳𝑹 = 𝟒𝒄) - a segment passing through the
focus, it is parallel to the directrix, and perpendicular to the axis
of parabola.
 Focal distance (𝒄)- distance from vertex to focus and distance
from vertex to the directrix.
  Eccentricity: the constant ratio that exits[JAS3] in all conics
𝑑1 𝑑2
𝑒= = =1
𝑑1 𝑑2

More Properties of Parabola

A. Vertex at V(h, k)

(𝑥 − ℎ)2 = 4𝑐(𝑦 − 𝑘) (𝑥 − ℎ)2 = −4𝑐(𝑦 − 𝑘)

opens upward opens downward

(a) (b)

(𝑦 − 𝑘 )2 = 4𝑐(𝑥 − ℎ) (𝑦 − 𝑘 )2 = −4𝑐(𝑥 − ℎ)
opens to the right opens to the left
(c) (d)

Figure 4. Graph of Parabola with Vertex (h,k) and its corresponding Standard
Form of Equation
 B. Vertex at the origin V(0,0)
𝑥 2 = 4𝑐𝑦, opens upward
𝑥 2 = −4𝑐𝑦, opens downward
𝑦 2 = 4𝑐𝑥, opens to the right
𝑦 2 = −4𝑐𝑥, opens to the left

Table 1. Standard Form of Equations of Parabola with Vertex (h, k)

Equation Vertex Axis of Description
Symmetry
+ 4c (opens upward)
(𝑥 − ℎ)2 = ±4𝑐(𝑦 − 𝑘) Vertical
- 4c (opens downward)
(h,k)
+ 4c (opens to the right)
(𝑦 − 𝑘 )2 = ±4𝑐(𝑥 − ℎ) Horizontal
- 4c (opens to the left)
Note the following observation:
 If the x-part is squared, the parabola is vertical; if y-part is squared, the
parabola is horizontal.
 If the coefficient of the linear part is positive, the parabola opens upward
or to the right; if negative, downward or to the left.

Finding the Standard Equation of a Parabola.

Directions. Read the following problems carefully and follow the steps
provided in solving different types of conditions in finding the standard equation
of parabola.
Example 1. What is the standard equation of a parabola with vertex located at
the origin and focal distance of 3 units?
Solution:
Given the 𝑉(0,0) and 𝑐 = 3,
As illustrated in figure 5, the
Parabola opens upward with
equation of
(𝑥 − ℎ)2 = 4𝑐(𝑦 − 𝑘 )
Substitute the value of h, k and c.
(𝑥 − 0)2 = 12(𝑦 − 0)
The resulting expression is the
standard form of the equation of
parabola. 𝒙𝟐 = 𝟏𝟐𝒚 Figure 5

Example 2. A parabola has Vertex (3, 5) and Focus (3, 10). Find its standard
equation.
Solution: Since the focus is 5 units above the vertex, we can conclude that the
parabola opens upward with 4𝑐 = 4(5) = 20. Hence, the equation is
(𝒙 − 𝟑)𝟐 = 𝟐𝟎(𝒚 − 𝟓)

Example 3. A parabola has focus F(3, 0) and

directrix 𝑥 = −3. Find the standard equation.
Solution: As shown in figure 6, with the
location of the fixed point and fixed line
given, we can conclude that the parabola
opens to the right. Therefore we will use
appropriate standard equation for the given
parabola
(𝑦 − ℎ)2 = 4𝑐(𝑥 − 𝑘).
We can easily determine the vertex, based on
the illustration as shown in figure 6. V(0,0)
and 𝑐 = 3.
Substituting the vertex and value of c in the
equation we will arrive to 𝒚𝟐 = 𝟏𝟐𝒙 as the
standard equation.
Figure 6
Example 4. Convert the general equation of the parabola into its standard form
of equation.
𝑦 2 + 8𝑥 + 4𝑦 = 20
Solution. Observe that the y-part is squared, therefore we, transpose x to the
right side of the expression and apply completing the square on y.
𝑦 2 + 4𝑦 = −8𝑥 + 20
𝑦 2 + 4𝑦 + 4 = −8𝑥 + 20 + 4
𝑦 2 + 4𝑦 + 4 = −8𝑥 + 24
The resulting expression is the standard form of equation of parabola.
(𝒚 + 𝟐)𝟐 = −𝟖(𝒙 + 𝟑)

Example 5. Convert the general equation of the parabola into its standard form
of equation.
2𝑥 2 + 8𝑦 = 32

Solution. This problem is quite different from example 4. Observe that the
coefficient of 𝑥 2 is 2, we must divide the whole expression to the coefficient of 𝑥 2 ,
before we conduct factoring.
2𝑥 2 + 8𝑦 = 32
2
𝑥 2 + 4𝑦 = 16
Transpose y to the other side,
𝑥 2 = −4𝑦 + 16
Then factor out -4, the resulting expression is the standard form of equation of
parabola.
𝒙𝟐 = −𝟒(𝒚 − 𝟒)
V. Activities

A. Direction. Identify the opening of each of the following equations of

parabola.
_________________1. 𝑦 2 = −64𝑥
_________________2. 5𝑥 2 = 10𝑦
_________________3. (𝑥 − 5)2 = 𝑦
_________________4. 𝑦 2 − 4𝑥 − 6𝑦 + 13 = 0
_________________5. 𝑥 2 + 8𝑦 + 14𝑥 = −65

B. Directions. Determine the standard equation of the parabola given

the following conditions.
_________________1. Vertex (0, 0) , focus (−4, 0)
_________________2. Vertex (2, 2), focus (2, −2)
_________________3. Opens upward, V(2,0), 𝑐 = 3
_________________4. Focus (1, 1) , directrix 𝑥 = −1
_________________5. Vertex (4, 5), directrix 𝑦 = 0

C. Directions. Determine the vertex and focus of the following

parabolas with the given equation.
_________________1. 𝑦 2 = −64𝑥
_________________2. 5𝑥 2 = 10𝑦
_________________3. (𝑥 − 5)2 = 𝑦
_________________4. 𝑦 2 − 4𝑥 − 6𝑦 + 13 = 0
_________________5. 𝑥 2 + 8𝑦 + 14𝑥 = −65

D. Directions. Convert the following equations of parabola into their

standard form.
_________________1. 𝑦 2 − 4𝑥 − 6𝑦 + 13 = 0
_________________2. 𝑥 2 + 8𝑦 + 14𝑥 = −65
_________________3. 𝑦 2 − 4𝑦 − 12𝑥 − 32 = 0
_________________4. 𝑥 2 − 5𝑦 + 12𝑥 = −16
_________________5. 5𝑦 2 + 30𝑦 + 25𝑥 = 55
VI. Assessment

A. Directions. Encircle the letter of the correct answer.

1. Which is NOT true about parabola?

a. Set of all points such that its distance from the focus and from
the directrix are the same.
b. Unbounded curve created when the plane and a cone intersects.
c. Conic that has two focus and two directrix.

2. What is the eccentricity of a parabola?

a. 0
b. 1
c. Less than 1
d. Greater than 1

3. What is the standard equation of parabola, if the axis of symmetry of

the parabola is 𝑥 = 0 with Vertex at (2,0)?
a. (𝑥 − 2)2 = 8𝑦 c. 𝑥 2 = 8(𝑦 − 2)
b. (𝑦 − 2)2 = 8𝑦 d. 𝑦 2 = 8(𝑥 − 2)

4. What is the focus of the parabola 𝑦 2 = 4𝑥?

a. (0,0) c. (0,1)
b. (4,0) d. (1,0)

5. What is the vertex of the parabola 2𝑥 2 = 8𝑦 − 16?

a. (-2,0) c. (0,-2)
b. (0,2) d. (2,0)

6. What is the standard form of equation of parabola 𝑥 2 − 8𝑦 + 14𝑥 = −65 ?

a. (𝑥 + 7)2 = −8(𝑦 + 2) c. (𝑦 + 7)2 = −8(𝑥 + 2)
b. (𝑦 + 7)2 = 8(𝑥 + 2) d. (𝑥 + 7)2 = 8(𝑦 − 2)
 B. Directions. Determine whether each statement makes sense or does not
make sense, and explain your reasoning. Two points each item with
correct explanations.

1. I graphed a parabola that opened to the right and contained a

maximum point.

2. Knowing that a parabola opening to the right has a vertex at the origin
gives me enough information to determine its graph.

VII. Reflection
Directions: Fill in each blank with appropriate words, phrases or expression
to make the sentence complete and sensible.
1. Parabola is a conic section in which plane cuts the cone ________.
2. A ________, is defined as the set of all points (𝑥, 𝑦) in a plane that are
equidistant from a fixed point, called the 3. ________, and a fixed line, and
called the 4. _______.
5. The eccentricity of a parabola is ________.[JAS4]
6. The line that passes through the focus and vertex of a parabola is called
the ________ of the parabola
7. The ________ of a parabola is the midpoint between the focus and the
directrix.
8. A line segment that passes through the focus of a parabola and has
endpoints on the parabola is called a ________ with length of 4c.
9. The distance between Vertex and focus is called ________.
10. The standard equation of a parabola that opens upward is ________.
11. The standard equation of a parabola that opens downward is ________.
12. The standard equation of a parabola that opens to the right is ________.
13. The standard equation of a parabola that opens to the left is ________.
14. If the x-part is squared, the parabola is________.
15. If the coefficient of the linear part is negative, the parabola opens ________.
VIII. References

Pre-Calculus, Learner’s Material, Department of Education, 2016.

R.S. Capote, J.A. Mandawe, Prime’s Mechanical Engineering Reference

Manual, 2009, page 88-89.

Prepared by:

THALIA ROSE B. DALUSONG

SPECIAL SCIENCE TEACHER I
ZAMBALES NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL, ZAMBALES