The first step in solving this problem would be to draw a diagram:
-treat the height given of the waterfall as the value of your y-axis -treat the distance away of the fish from the waterfall as your x-axis -things are always easier with visuals
Then you would need to find the value of 4p:
-Standard form of a vertical parabola: (x-h)2 = 4p(y-k) -looking at the graph you could see we are given values of x and y -substitute values into the variables -also looking at graph, the vertex is at (0,25) -all that is needed is to substitute the values in and solve for 4p -the 4p is negative, from looking at graph it opens down
Equation of the parabola:
-now that we have the value for 4p our equation is done -we know from above that V = (0,25) -so our equation will be x2 = -784(y-25)
To find if the bird or fish meet you’d have to:
-find the point where the line touches the x axis -make y =0 to find value of x -you then plug the coordinates of that point into the equation of the parabola -if this point is indeed on the parabola then both sides of the equation should equal -if it doesn’t, it isn’t on any points of the parabola