1. Parabola Project Submitted by: Mr. Chonko & Mrs. Cornelius
November, 2009

2. Vertex (0,9)
X-intercept
(-7,0)
X-intercept
(7,0)
f(x) = -.171x

3. Project Narrative
The picture we chose was of the famous St. Louis Gateway Arch. The Arch was built between 1963 and 1965 as a monument honoring western pioneers.
The Arch was built of stainless steel and was designed to withstand winds and other natural forces. It sways about one inch in a 20 mph wind, and can sway up to 18 inches in stronger winds.

4. More information
The Gateway Arch (part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, Missouri) is not a parabola but is a shape known as a catenary.
The catenary is the name given to the shape formed by the graph of the hyperbolic cosine (abbreviated cosh) and is the shape of a uniform flexible cable, or chain whose ends are supported from the same height. The word catenary comes from the Latin word for chain. The hyperbolic cosine is defined as cosh z = ½ (ez + e-z).
The equation that gives the shape of the Arch is 
y = cosh ( x) 

5. Works Cited
Weisstein, Eric W. "Hyperbolic Cosine." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource. <
“St. Louis Gateway Arch.” EnchantedLearning Enchanted Learning LLC. 23 Nov <

6. Rubric Requirements Points Possible Points Earned
Picture-the picture clearly displays a parabola in nature
5 pts
Formatting – the graph and grid are properly aligned with the picture
Quadratic –the quadratic regression is correct and clearly displayed
10 pts
Essential values – the x-intercepts, y-intercept, vertex, and function are clearly labeled on the graph. Also the domain and range are listed.
15 pts
Works cited – all information is cited in a works cited slide
Total
40 pts