A satellite dish has the shape of a parabola when viewed from the side. The dish is inches wide and inches deep. How far is the receiver from the bottom of the dish if the receiver is placed at the focus

Complete question is;

A satellite dish has the shape of a parabola when viewed from the side. The dish is 60 inches wide and 45 inches deep. How far is the receiver from the bottom of the dish if the receiver is placed at the focus?

the receiver should be put 40 inches from the bottom of the dish on the concave side of the dish

Explanation:

The base of the dish would simply be the vertex of parabola.

Since we want to find how far the receiver is from the bottom, the place where we'll place the receiver is simply the focus of the parabola.

Now, for example, if this is a parabola that opens upward and has it's vertex at the origin, then half of the diameter at a height of 45 inches gives the two points (60, 22.5) and (-60, 22.5)

Standard form equation of parabola with vertex at origin and pointing upwards is given by;

x² = 4ay

Plugging in the values of x and y gives;

60² = 4a(22.5)

3600/90 = a

a = 40 inches

Thus, the receiver should be put 40 inches from the vertex on the concave side of the dish

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