Highway engineers design a parabolic curve for an entrance ramp from a straight street to an interstate highway (see figure 64 on page 742 of your textbook). The vertex of the curve passes through (0, 0) and the parabola passes through (1000, + 800). Find an equation for the parabola.
if the vertex is (h,k) then the equation of a parabola can be written as y=a(x-h)^2+k
so since the vertex is (0,0) y=a(x-0)^2+0 y=a(x)^2 y=ax^2 and the oint it passes through is 1000, 800 so 800=a(1000)^2 800=1000000a divide both sides by 1000000 800/1000000=a 1/1250
