Question

Suppose an x-y axis is superimposed on the map with its origin at Des Moines, Iowa. also suppose a cold front is passing through the US at noon having shaped roughly like a parabola with its vertex at Des Moines, Iowa ad a vertical stretch/ shrink factor of 1/20 if the independent varaible is measured in hundreds of miles. What type of function are you working with. How do you know? Is the leading coefficient positive or negative? how do you know?

Answer 1

Based on the figure and the problem, the cold front is in the shape of a parabola. Therefore, the function is of second degree or a quadratic function. Since the graph of the parabola is curved upwards and its degree is 2 which is even, the leading coefficient is positive.