EFFECT OF COEFFICIENT OF X^2 ON PARABOLA VERTEX (a<0)
ConcepTest

Consider the general form of a quadratic function,  

    or     ,    where .

If the coefficient a becomes increasingly negative in value (i.e., as  increases while a remains negative), how will this increase affect the position of the vertex of the parabola?  

For the sake of simplicity, you may assume that both b and c are fixed values and that b=1 and c=2.  (A similar analysis could be performed with b<0.)

The new vertex will be:

CIRCLE ONE:

A.	 LOWER AND TO THE RIGHT OF THE ORIGINAL VERTEX

B.  LOWER AND TO THE LEFT OF THE ORIGINAL VERTEX

C.  SAME POSITION AS THE ORIGINAL VERTEX

D.  HIGHER AND TO THE RIGHT OF THE ORIGINAL VERTEX 

E.  HIGHER AND TO THE LEFT OF THE ORIGINAL VERTEX