So I’m in 10th grade academic math and my teacher is pretty good at explaining concepts, formulas, etc. But the one thing I can’t seem to grasp her explaining of is quadratic equations and parabola, can anyone explain it simply?
In: Mathematics
A parabola is just a mathematical shape, and a quadratic equation is just an equation that makes a parabola.
Like a lot of things in math, it’s hard to get into detail as to what they “mean,” by themselves, because by themselves they don’t mean anything. Sort of like how a hammer can be used to hammer in nails, but it can also be used to break things, pry things apart, fight someone, or if you really want to get creative you can tie a rope to it and use it as a makeshift anchor or something. Tools in math are no different than the hammer, but tend to have _even more uses_ making it really difficult to develop an intuitive grasp on them unless you already have some kind of use for them where you can build connections yourself.
The reason we learn about parabolas and quadratic equations though is because they show up in a lot of different math. A parabola is just “a^2” after all, so you’re going to be seeing that a lot, meaning it’s super helpful to learn things like the quadratic formula and ways to solve or otherwise work with quadratics, because it will help you work with a bunch of equations you’re likely to come across in the future.
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