How do you find the vertex and the intercepts for y= -x^2 + 9?

1 Answer
Feb 9, 2017

Vertex: (0,9)
Y-intercept: y=9
X-intercepts: x=-3 and x=+3

Explanation:

Remember the standard vertex form for a parabola is
color(white)("XXX")y=color(green)m(x-color(red)a)^2+color(blue)b
with vertex at (color(red)a,color(blue)b)

Re-writing the given equation: y=-x^2+9
into explicit standard vertex form:
color(white)("XXX")y=color(green)(-1)(x-color(red)0)^2+color(blue)9
with vertex at (color(red)0,color(blue)9)

The Y-intercept is the value of y when x=color(magenta)0
color(white)("XXX")y=-color(magenta)0^2+9=9

The X-intercepts are the values of x possible when y=color(orange)0
color(white)("XXX")color(orange)0=-x^2+9
color(white)("XXX")rarr x^2=9
color(white)("XXX")rarr x=+-3

Here is the graph for verification purposes:
enter image source here