Whisper dishes are parabolic sound reflectors that transmit and receive sound waves from opposite ends of a room. For the best sound reception, you place your ear at the focus of the dish. Write an equation for the cross section of a dish when your ear is 3 feet from the vertex.

Aganippe76

Aganippe76

Answered question

2022-07-13

Whisper dishes are parabolic sound reflectors that transmit and receive sound waves from opposite ends of a room. For the best sound reception, you place your ear at the focus of the dish. Write an equation for the cross section of a dish when your ear is 3 feet from the vertex.

Answer & Explanation

Valeria Wolfe

Valeria Wolfe

Beginner2022-07-14Added 11 answers

Knowing that the distance between the vertex and the focus can be calculated by 1 4 a , then if we put the ear at 3 feet from the vertex means that 1 4 a = 3
1=12a
a = 1 12 
Hence, the parabola's equation that represents the cross-section of a dish is y = 1 12 x 2 

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