<< Chapter < Page | Chapter >> Page > |
If it has... | Then it’s a... | Example | Horizontal or Vertical? |
---|---|---|---|
No squared terms | Line | ||
One squared term | Parabola | If you have an but no , you’re a horizontal parabola. If you have a but no , vertical. | |
Two squared terms with the same coefficient | Circle | ||
Two squared terms with different coefficients but the same sign | Ellipse | The difference between vertical ellipses and horizontal is based on which squared term has the larger coefficient. | |
Two squared terms with different signs | Hyperbola | The difference between vertical hyperbolas and horizontal is based on which squared term is positive. |
Note that all of this is based only on the squared terms! The other terms matter in terms of graphing, but not in terms of figuring out what shape it is.
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