draw the parabola. identify the focus and directrix. 4y = 7x^2 You will need to get the equation in this form: x² = 4py where the vertex is (0,0) and the distance from the vertex to focus is p and the distance from the vertex to the directrix is -p. [A distance is upward if it's positive and downward if it's negative]. It's focal chord (or "latus rectum"), which is the distance across the parabola at the focal point, has length 4p. 4y = 7x² Write that as 7x² = 4y Divide both sides by 7 x² = y Compare that to x² = 4py So the vertex is (0,0) and 4p = 4/7, or p = 1/7, so the focus is +1/7 units (above) the vertex or the point (0,1/7). The vertex is the origin and the focus is the point (0, 1/7) marked with an X below: The directrix is -1/7 units (below) the vertex, which is a horizontal line whose equation is y = -1/7. Here is the directrix: Next we draw the focal chord (or "latus rectum") which is 4p units or 4/7 units long which means it is 2/7 units on each side of the focus: And finally we can sketch in the parabola, whose vertex is the origin, and which just touches the ends of the focal chord (or "latus rectum"): -------------------------- write the standard form of the equation of the circle that passes through (1, -3) and whose center is the origin. The standard form of a circle with center at the origin is x² + y² = r² where the radius is r. Since it passes through (x,y) = (1,-3), we substitute: (1)² + (-3)² = r² 1 + 9 = r² 10 = r² So the standard equation is x² + y² = 10 So its center is the origin and its radius is or about 3.2. So we can sketch the graph with a compass. Its graph is: --------------------------------- draw the circle 3x² + 3y² = 48. We divide through by 3 and get x² + y² = 16 Compare to x² + y² = r² and we see that r² = 16 and r, the radius is 4, so the graph of this circle is Edwin