-b/2a <-------------is this just another way to figure out the vertex?
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Yes, the expression -b/2a is a formula used to find the x-coordinate of the vertex of a parabola. Once you have the x-coordinate of the vertex, you can then plug this value into the original equation to find the y-coordinate of the vertex.
For example, consider the equation y=3x^2+12x+4. The vertex of the parabola created by this equation is -b/2a=-12/[2*3]=-12/6= -2. So the x-coordinate of the vertex is -2. Then to get the y-coordinate, we plug -2 back into our equation to get y=3(-2)^2+12(-2)+4=-8. So the vertex of the parabola is (-2,-8).
For example, consider the equation y=3x^2+12x+4. The vertex of the parabola created by this equation is -b/2a=-12/[2*3]=-12/6= -2. So the x-coordinate of the vertex is -2. Then to get the y-coordinate, we plug -2 back into our equation to get y=3(-2)^2+12(-2)+4=-8. So the vertex of the parabola is (-2,-8).
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vertex of what?