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32 votes
32 votes
Find (a) the axis of symmetry and (b) the vertex of the graph of the function.
Ax) = 4x² - 8x

User PradeepKumar
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1 Answer

18 votes
18 votes

Explanation:

I am not sure, what is the level of math for you currently.

do you do differentiation and derivatives already ?

because that is how I find "extreme points" and "turning points" of a function right away.

the vertex is the turning point for a quadratic parabola.

that means the point where the slope (= the first derivative) of the function is 0.

and that is also where the axis of symmetry is.

8x - 8 = 0

8x = 8

x = 1 (axis of symmetry).

y = 4×1² - 8×1 = 4 - 8 = -4

so, the vertex is (1, -4)

in case you don't understand derivatives yet, there is a shortcut for this for quadratic equations (fyi - in fact, the generic result of the first derivative) :

y = ax² + bx + c

the x value for the axis is then

x = -b/(2a)

in our case

a = 4

b = -8

x = - -8/8 = 8/8 = 1

and then y is calculated as above.

User Jacob McKay
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2.9k points