Verified Answer :
A quadratic function:
\(y=ax^2+bx+c\)
First, take the point (0,-4) and plug the values (x,y) into the equation:
\(-4=a \times 0^2+b \times 0 +c \\
-4=c\)
So the equation is \(y=ax^2+bx-4\).
Now plug the values of the other two points into the equation and set up a system of equation:
\(-20=a \times (-2)^2+b \times (-2)-4 \\
-20=a \times 4^2+b \times 4-4 \\ \\
-20+4=4a-2b \\
-20+4=16a+4b \\ \\
-16=4a-2b \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ | \div 2 \\
-16=16a+4b \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ |\div 4 \\ \\
-8=2a-b \\
\underline{-4=4a+b} \\
-12=6a \\
\frac{-12}{6}=a \\
a=-2 \\ \\
-8=2a-b \\
-8=2 \times (-2)-b \\
-8=-4-b \\
-8+4=-b \\
-4=-b \\
b=4\)
The function is:
\(\boxed{y=-2x^2+4x-4}\)
For this case, the quadratic function in its generic form is given by:
\(y = ax ^ 2 + bx + c
\)
We must find the values of the coefficients.
For this, we evaluate the given points.
For (0, -4):
\(-4 = a (0) ^ 2 + b (0) + c
c = -4
\)
For (-2, -20):
\(-20 = a (-2) ^ 2 + b (-2) + c
4a - 2b - 4 = - 20
4a - 2b = - 20 + 4
4a - 2b = - 16
\)
For (4, -20):
\(-20 = a (4) ^ 2 + b (4) + c
16a + 4b - 4 = - 20
16a + 4b = - 20 + 4
16a + 4b = - 16
\)
Therefore, for the values of a and b we have the following system of equations:
\(4a - 2b = - 16
16a + 4b = - 16
\)
Resolving graphically (see attached image) we have:
\(a = - 2
b = 4
\)
Then, the quadratic model is:
\(y = -2x ^ 2 + 4x - 4
\)
Answer:
a quadratic model for the set of values is:
\(y = -2x ^ 2 + 4x - 4\)