Situational Problem

Involving Conics:
PARABOLA 01
G11 – St.Dominic
1. A parabolic trough 10 meters long, 4 meters wide across the top and 3 meters deep is filled with water at
a depth of 2 meters. Find the volume of water in the trough.

 
Volume = length x width x height.
= 80 cubic units volume of the water in the
through
 2. Water spouts from a horizontal pipe 12 meters above the ground and 3 meters below the line of
the pipe, the water trajectory is at a horizontal distance of 5 meters. How far from the vertical line
will the stream of the water hit the ground?

  Open downward     Equation of the parabola

Let p on the flow path 3 and

5m beyond the vertical line
through the end of the pipe

p is (5,3)

Let x1​ be the distance between

 
the bottom of the vertical line on Therefore (,-12m) lies on the
the ground from the pipe end parabola
The water strikes the
and the point on which the water ground 100m beyond
touches the ground. But the the vertical line
height of the pipe from the
ground is 12 m.
 3. A parabolic suspension bridge cable is hung between two supporting towers 120 meters apart and
35 meters above the bridge deck. The lowest point of the cable is 5 meters above the deck.
Determine the lengths (h1 & h2) of the tension members 20 meters and 40 meters from the bridge
center.

Solution: We can draw the graph lake right cell. We suppose the function as y=ax^2 + bx + c
put C into the Function.
5 = axo^2 + bxo + c
C=5
The Symmery axis equation : X = b/2a
So, -b/2a = o → b = 0
→ y = ax^2 + 5 Put B into the Function
35 = axbo^2 + 5
a = 1/120 Answers:
Y = 1/120 x^2 + 5
H1 = 1/120 x20^2 + 5 = 25/3 H1 = 25/3, H2 = 55/3
H2 = 1/120 x40^2 + 5 = 55/3
 4. A parkway 20 meters wide is spanned by a parabolic arc 30 meters long along the horizontal. If
the parkway is centered, how high must the vertex of the arch be in order to give a minimum
clearance of 5 meters over the parkway.

3 x=25; y=5
1 625a + 25b = 5
2 simplify divide by 5
that means the 30m arch
starts and ends 5m on either Using the form ax^ + bx 125a + 5b = 1
side of the 20m highway + c = y; this parabola using elimination
From the information given we passes thru the origin, 125a + 5b = 1
can obtain the following x,y therefore c = 0
pairs
25a + 5b = 5
Two equations -------subtraction eliminates b,
x=0; y=0
x=5; y=5 x=5; y=5 find a
x=25; y=5 25a + 5b = 5 100a + 0 = -4
a = -4/100
a = -.04
 4. A parkway 20 meters wide is spanned by a parabolic arc 30 meters long along the horizontal. If
the parkway is centered, how high must the vertex of the arch be in order to give a minimum
clearance of 5 meters over the parkway.

1 2
Find b using eq 25a + b = 5
-.04(25) + 5b = 5
-1 + 5b = 5 "how high must the vertex of the arch be" find the axis of symmetry
5b = 5 + 1 x = -b/(2a)
b = 6/5 x = 
b = 1.2 x = 15
Find y when x=15
y = -.04(15^2) + 1.2(15)
the equation: y = -.04x^2 + 1.05x y = -9 + 18
Looks like this, green line is 5m height Vertex pair: 15, 9
y = 9 meters above the center of the high-way, blue line
 5. The cables of the middle part of a suspension bridge are in the form of a
parabola, and the towers supporting the cable are 600 feet apart and 100 feet
high. What is the height of the cable at a point 150 feet from the center of the
bridge?

  (300,100)

= 4p (100)  

=
↓
  25 = y
225 = p →
   

=
 6. An engineer designs a satellite dish with a parabolic cross section. The
dish is 5 m wide at the opening, and the focus is placed 12m from the vertex
 
(a) Position a coordinate system with the origin at the vertex and the x-axis
on the parabola's axis of symmetry and find an equation of the parabola.

(b) Find the depth of the satellite dish at the vertex. y=

P = 12 0.13 = x

a.) y =
 7. Parabolic cable of a 60 m portion of the roadbed of a suspension bridge are positioned as shown below. Vertical
Cables are to be spaced every 6 m along this portion of the roadbed. Calculate the lengths of first two of these
vertical cables from the vertex.

1 2 3
•  Sub (30,16) in 1
 equation of the suspension  
bridge • ) Sub 4a in 1
• the x and y • )

• )
• )
For 2nd vertical cable length
For 1st vertical cable length
(12,y) in 2
(6,y) in 2 5
4
 
 

• +3=5.08m
• +3=3.52m
 G11 – St.Dominic

Situational Problem Involving

Conics: ELLIPSE
02
 1. A tunnel has the shape of a semi ellipse that is 15 ft. high at the center, and 36 ft.
across at the base. At most how high should a passing truck be, if it is 12 ft. wide,
for it to be able to fit through the tunnel?

 
 

+=1
=

+ =1 (225) = (225)
= 8(25)
=
+ =1 Y=
Y = 10 14.14 ft.
 2. A train tunnel through a mountain is semielliptical, with height 18 feet at the center and width 24 feet at the
base. A train is hauling a load of flatcars that are piled high with freight. If the flatcars are 10 feet wide and the
load reaches a height of 15 feet above the ground, will the flatcars clear the opening of the tunnel?

+ =1

+ =1
 3. The diagram below shows the cross-section of a bridge for a toy train. The highest point
of the arch is 14 cm, and the span at the base of the arch is 32 cm. Find the equation of the
elliptical arch of the bridge.

+ =1

+ =1
4. A sunburst window is constructed. At its highest, the window is 25 inches tall at its highest (from the
center), and 80 inches wide at the bottom. Find the height, h, of the window at 20 inches from center.
Assume the ellipse is centered at the origin.

   
+ =1 = or 625

+ =1 or

+ =1 =

=1- y = 21.65
 5. The orbit of a planet has the shape of an ellipse, and on one of the foci is the star around which it revolves. The planet is
closest to the star when it is at one vertex. It is farthest from the star when it is at the other vertex. Suppose the closest and
farthest distances of the planet from this star, are 420 million kilometers and 580 million kilometers, respectively. Find the
equation of the ellipse, in standard form, with center at the origin and the star at the x-axis. Assume all units are in millions of
kilometers.

+ =1

+
Thanks!

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