SOLUTION: find the vertex of the parabola F(x)=2x^2+8x+3 Can you please show the work so that I can get a full understanding. Thank you

Algebra ->  Polynomials-and-rational-expressions -> SOLUTION: find the vertex of the parabola F(x)=2x^2+8x+3 Can you please show the work so that I can get a full understanding. Thank you      Log On


   



Question 677673: find the vertex of the parabola
F(x)=2x^2+8x+3
Can you please show the work so that I can get a full understanding.
Thank you

Answer by josmiceli(19441) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
+F%28x%29=2x%5E2%2B8x%2B3+
This is a parabola with a minimum and not a maximum
I can tell because the squared term is positive. If I changed it
to +F%28x%29=-2x%5E2%2B8x%2B3+ then it would have a maximum.
The vertex is the (x,y) point at the minimum ( or maximum )
---------------
The x-coordinate of the vertex occurs halfway
between the roots, which are
the two solutions to +2x%5E2%2B8x%2B3+=+0+
---------------
To get a deeper understanding of this look at the
quadratic formula which gives these two solutions
---------------
+x%5B1%5D+=+%28-b+%2B+sqrt%28+b%5E2+-+4%2Aa%2Ac+%29%29+%2F+%282%2Aa%29+
+x%5B2%5D+=+%28-b+-+sqrt%28+b%5E2+-+4%2Aa%2Ac+%29%29+%2F+%282%2Aa%29+
Now I'll separate the terms in each solution:
+x%5B1%5D+=+-b%2F%282a%29+%2B+%28+sqrt%28+b%5E2+-+4%2Aa%2Ac%29+%29+%2F+%282%2Aa%29+
+x%5B2%5D+=+-b%2F%282a%29+-+%28+sqrt%28+b%5E2+-+4%2Aa%2Ac%29+%29+%2F+%282%2Aa%29+
-----------------------------------------
Now what you have is:
+x%5B1%5D+ = ( x coordinate of the vertex ) + ( the positive correction )
+x%5B2%5D+ = ( x coordinate of the vertex ) - ( the negative correction )
-------------------
So, you can see that +-b%2F%282a%29+ is the x-coordinate of the vertex
when the form of the equation is +f%28x%29+=+ax%5E2+%2B+b%2Ax+%2B+c+
-------------------
I can apply this to your problem
+F%28x%29=2x%5E2%2B8x%2B3+
+a+=+2+
+b+=+8+
+c+=+3+
+-b%2F%282a%29+=+-8%2F%282%2A2%29+
+-b%2F%282a%29+=+-2+
--------------------
Now you know the vertex is at ( -2, y ). To find y, plug +x+=+-2+
into the equation
+y+=2%2A%28-2%29%5E2%2B8%2A%28-2%29%2B3+
+y+=+2%2A4+-+16+%2B+3+
+y+=+8+-+16+%2B+3+
+y+=+-5+
---------------
The vertex is at ( -2, -5 )
Here's a plot of the equation:
+graph%28+400%2C+400%2C+-7%2C+7%2C+-7%2C+7%2C+2x%5E2+%2B+8x+%2B+3+%29+
The vertex is where is should be