A parabola is the set of all points P in a plane that have the same distance from a fixed point F (the focus) as they are from a fixes line D (the directrix).

Orientation:  There are four main orientations of the parabola which are up, down, right and left.

Equation:

Orientation	Graph	Verbal Description of the Equation	Equation
Up		Vertical orientation will have the square on the x variable.
Down		Vertical orientation will have the square on the x variable and will have a negative because of the reflection.
Right		Horizontal orientation will have the square on the y variable.
Left		Horizontal orientation will have the square on the y variable and will have a negative because of the reflection.

Features of A Parabola Oriented Up

Study the vocabulary and the location of these important features of a parabola.