EXERCISE 1.

Long answer questions (1 to 10):

1. A beam is supported at its ends by supports which are 12 m apart. Since the load is
concentrated at its center, there is a deflection of 3 cm at the
center, and the deflected beam is in the shape of a parabola. How
far from the center is the deflection 1 cm ?

2. The focus of the parabolic mirror shown in the adjoining figure is

at a distance of 5 cm from its vertex. If the mirror is 45 cm deep,
find the distance AB.
ocm F MI

3. The girder of a railway bridge is a parabola with its vertex at the

highest point, 10 meters above the ends. If the span is 100
meters, find its height at 20 meters from the mid-point.

4. The cable of a uniformly loaded suspension bridge hangs in the form of a parabola. The
roadway which is horizontal and 100 m long is supported by vertical wages attached to
the cable, the longest wire being 30 m and the shortest being 6 m. Find the length of a
supporting wire attached to the roadway 18 m from the middle.

5. An arch is in the form of a parabola with its axis vertical. The arch is 10 m high and 5 m
wide at the base. How wide is it 2 m from the vertex of the parabola ?

6. The tower of a bridge, hung in the form of a parabola, have their tops 30 meters above
the road-way 200 meters apart. If the cable is 5 meters above the roadway at the center
of the bridge, then find the length of the vertical supporting cable 30 meters from the
center.

7. The girder of a railway bridge is a parabola with its vertex at the highest point, 15 meters
above the ends. If the span is 150 meters, find its height at 30 meters from the mid-point.

8. One vertex of a square lies at the vertex of the parabola y2 = 8x and the diagonal of the
square through that vertex is along the axis of the parabola. If the end- points of the
other diagonal of the square also lie on the parabola, the coordinates of all the vertices
of the square are (a, a), (6, b) (2b, a), (b, b) where a = 0 and b = y. Find y.
-

9. The center of a circle C lies at the focus S of a parabola y2 = 4x with vertex O and the
radius of C is equal in length to Os. One end point of a double ordinate of the parabola
is P and the double ordinate intersects the axis of the parabola at T. TP (or its extended
part) intersects the circle C at Q. Then, find the locus f the midpoint R of PQ.

10. At what point of the parabola x2 = 9y is the abscissa three times that of ordinate?