Experiment with the interactive below to see how the value of a impacts the graph of the parabola defined by y = ax^2 + c. Use the slider to adjust the value of c and watch the graph to see how it changes. What does the graph look like when c is positive? What does it look like when c is negative? How does the graph of the parabola change for larger or small values of c?
This applet created for use in Algebra 1 at Michigan Virtual School. [url]http://www.mivhs.org/[/url]