Question

Order the group of parabolas from widest to narrowest.

y = 1/4x^2, y = -1/2x^2,y =3/2x^2

Please just don’t guess I really need to get this problem correct

Answer 1

`\large\boxed{y=(1)/(4)x^2,\ y=-(1)/(2)x^2,\ y=(3)/(2)x^2}`

Explanation:

The equation of a parabola: y = ax²

The larger the value of |a|, the narrower the parabola.

We have the following coefficients a:

`\left|(1)/(4)\right|=(1)/(4),\ \left|-(1)/(2)\right|=(1)/(2),\ \left|(3)/(2)\right|=(3)/(2),`

We arrange the coefficients from the smallest to the largest:

`(1)/(4)\ <\ (1)/(2)\ <\ (3)/(2)`

Therefore you have the answer:

`y=(1)/(4)x^2,\ y=-(1)/(2)x^2,\ y=(3)/(2)x^2`