How do you find the vertex, focus and directrix of 4x^2 + 6x -y + 2 = 0?

1 Answer
Nov 9, 2016

The vertex =(-3/4,-1/4)
The focus is =(-3/5,-3/16)
The equation of the directrix is y=-5/16

Explanation:

Let's rewrite the equation by completing the squares
4(x^2+3/2x+9/16)=y-2+9/4=y+1/4
(x+3/4)^2=1/4(y+1/4)
This is a parabola
We compare this to the equation of the parabola (x-a)^2=2p(y-b)
:. The vertex is (-3/4,-1/4)
p=1/8
The focus is (a,b+p/2)=(-3/4,-1/4+1/16)=(-3/4,-3/16)

The equation of the directrix is y=-1/4-1/16=-5/16
graph{(4x^2+6x-y+2)(y+5/16)=0 [-3.459, 1.409, -1.378, 1.056]}