sat suite question viewer
| xx | yy |
|---|---|
| 2121 | -8−8 |
| 2323 | 88 |
| 2525 | -8 |
The table shows three values of and their corresponding values of , where and is a quadratic function. What is the y-coordinate of the y-intercept of the graph of in the xy-plane?
Explanation
The correct answer is . It's given that is a quadratic function. It follows that can be defined by an equation of the form , where , , and are constants. It's also given that the table shows three values of and their corresponding values of , where . Substituting for in this equation yields . This equation represents a quadratic relationship between and , where is either the maximum or the minimum value of , which occurs when . For quadratic relationships between and , the maximum or minimum value of occurs at the value of halfway between any two values of that have the same corresponding value of . The table shows that x-values of and correspond to the same y-value, . Since is halfway between and , the maximum or minimum value of occurs at an x-value of . The table shows that when , . It follows that and . Subtracting from both sides of the equation yields . Substituting for and for in the equation yields , or . The value of can be found by substituting any x-value and its corresponding y-value for and , respectively, in this equation. Substituting for and for in this equation yields , or . Subtracting from both sides of this equation yields , or . Dividing both sides of this equation by yields . Substituting for , for , and for in the equation yields . The y-intercept of the graph of in the xy-plane is the point on the graph where . Substituting for in the equation yields , or . This is equivalent to , so the y-intercept of the graph of in the xy-plane is . Thus, the y-coordinate of the y-intercept of the graph of in the xy-plane is .