PHet Exercise 1

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course Mth 173

6/10/13 ~11:01 AM

The simulation athttp://phet.colorado.edu/sims/equation-grapher/equation-grapher_en.html

allows you to vary the parameters of a quadratic function and see how the graph changes as a result. You can use sliders to vary a, b and c, or you can enter numbers.

Investigate what happens when you vary the a parameter, and give a brief description of what you see and how it is related to what you are learning in Modeling Project 1.

In the model on the website each variable can be adjusted and its change can be seen in the graph. Relating this information to modeling project 1 we can see that each value does something different to the graph. A,B and C all change location and orientation of the graph.

Now see what happens when you vary the b parameter, and once more give a brief description and see if you can relate it to what you have done in Modeling Project 1.

Moving the b parameter we can see that the slope of the current graph changes depending on which way the lever is pulled. The slope in the modeling project often gave a rate of change per unit depending on what we were calculating.

If you increase the b parameter, does the graph move to the right or the left? Does it move up or down? Does either answer depend on the value of the parameter?

Increasing the b parameter tilts the current graph upwards in an increasing trend. Only the b value moves the graph up or down. The shift right or left depends on other variable numbers/.

If you want to move the vertex to a specific point, can you figure out in advance how much to change the b and c parameters, or are there confounding factors that confuse the process?

Moving the vertex to a specific point depends on the y-intercept or C value. While increasing or decreasing the A value to form a parabola with a vertex and moving the C value up and down you can adjust the vertex to a specific point desired. Using the B value you can relocate the lowest or highest point horizontally.

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Very good.

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