PRE-CALCULUS

“SUSPENSION BRIDGE”
FANE YAO
CHRYSLER FLORESCA
DANILO GONZALES
BRYAN MENDOZA
 PARABOLA
a parabola is a plane curve, which is mirror-
symmetrical, and is approximately U-
shaped when oriented as shown in the
diagram (it remains a parabola if is differently
oriented). It fits any of several superficially
different mathematical descriptions, which
can all be proved to define exactly the same
curves.
 HISTORY OF PARABOLA
• The earliest known work on conic sections was
by Menaechmus in the fourth century BC.
• The area enclosed by a parabola and a line
segment, the so-called "parabola segment",
was computed by Archimedes via the method
of exhaustion in the third century BC, in
his The Quadrature of the Parabola.
• The name "parabola" is due
to Apollonius who discovered many
properties of conic sections. It means
"application", referring to "application of
areas" concept, that has a connection with
this curve, as Apollonius had proved.
• The focus–directrix property of the parabola
and other conics is due to Pappus.
Importance of parabola
 MATHEMATICAL APPLICATION
SATELLITE DISHES AUTOMONBILE HEADLIGHTS

PATH OF A BALL
 COMPUTATION

example at the right, the coefficient of x² is

1, so ,making p = ¼.
The vertex is (0,0), the focus is (0,¼), and
the directrix is y = -¼.
 PROBLEM
• The cable of a suspension bridge that
connects Pampanga and Bulacan hangs in the
form of a parabola when the load is evenly
distributed horizontally. The distance between
the two towers is 150m, 22m above the
roadway. Find the vertical distance to the
cable from a point in the roadway 15m from
the foot of the tower.
solution