"Published in Vacaville, California, USA"
Given the equation of a parabola
Find the new equation of a parabola if the given parabola is rotated counterclockwise about the origin at 90°.
Solution:
To illustrate the given problem, it is better to draw the figure as follows
 |
| Photo by Math Principles in Everyday Life |
If the given equation is written in rectangular coordinate system, then we need to convert it into polar coordinate system as follows
Next, substitute θ with θ - 90° and then expand using the sum and difference of two angles formula, we have
Convert the above equation into rectangular coordinate system in order to get its final equation. Therefore, the new equation of a parabola is
