A fountain on a lake sprays water in a parabolic arch modeled by the equation y = −0.4x2 + 3x, where y is the height in feet and
x is the horizontal distance. A beam of light is passed through the fountain to create a rainbow effect. If the beam is directed at an angle modeled by the equation -2.2x + 4.9y = 8.18, at what distance from the ground will the beam first touch the water spray?
2 answers:
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Answer:
Step-by-step explanation:
First, we identify that the vertices are vertical.
(an image below is attached if you want to see a visualization)
Therefore, the equation is such:
(h,k) is the center of the ellipse, which we could easily calculate by finding the midpoint between any pair of vertices.
This gets us (-2, 1)
Therefore, h = -2, k = 1
Now we want to find a,
we know the length of the major axis is 2a, and in this case, our length of the major axis is 26. So a = 13
Now we want to find b,
We know the length of the minor axis is 2b, and in this case, our length is 22, so b = 11
Now we will just plug in all the values and simplify to get our answer! B)
