Find the Axis of Symmetry f(x)=3x^2+x

$f (x) = 3 x^{2} + x$

Step 1

Write $f (x) = 3 x^{2} + x$ as an equation.

$y = 3 x^{2} + x$

Step 2

Rewrite the equation in vertex form.

Complete the square for $3 x^{2} + x$ .

Use the form $a x^{2} + b x + c$ , to find the values of $a$ , $b$ , and $c$ .

$a = 3$

$b = 1$

$c = 0$

Consider the vertex form of a parabola.

$a {(x + d)}^{2} + e$

Find the value of $d$ using the formula $d = \frac{b}{2 a}$ .

Substitute the values of $a$ and $b$ into the formula $d = \frac{b}{2 a}$ .

$d = \frac{1}{2 \cdot 3}$

Multiply $2$ by $3$ .

$d = \frac{1}{6}$

Find the value of $e$ using the formula $e = c - \frac{b^{2}}{4 a}$ .

Substitute the values of $c$ , $b$ and $a$ into the formula $e = c - \frac{b^{2}}{4 a}$ .

$e = 0 - \frac{1^{2}}{4 \cdot 3}$

Simplify the right side.

Simplify each term.

One to any power is one.

$e = 0 - \frac{1}{4 \cdot 3}$

Multiply $4$ by $3$ .

$e = 0 - \frac{1}{12}$

Subtract $\frac{1}{12}$ from $0$ .

$e = - \frac{1}{12}$

Substitute the values of $a$ , $d$ , and $e$ into the vertex form $3 {(x + \frac{1}{6})}^{2} - \frac{1}{12}$ .

$3 {(x + \frac{1}{6})}^{2} - \frac{1}{12}$

Set $y$ equal to the new right side.

$y = 3 {(x + \frac{1}{6})}^{2} - \frac{1}{12}$

Step 3

Use the vertex form, $y = a {(x - h)}^{2} + k$ , to determine the values of $a$ , $h$ , and $k$ .

$a = 3$

$h = - \frac{1}{6}$

$k = - \frac{1}{12}$

Step 4

Since the value of $a$ is positive, the parabola opens up.

Opens Up

Step 5

Find the vertex $(h, k)$ .

$(- \frac{1}{6}, - \frac{1}{12})$

Step 6

Find $p$ , the distance from the vertex to the focus.

Find the distance from the vertex to a focus of the parabola by using the following formula.

$\frac{1}{4 a}$

Substitute the value of $a$ into the formula.

$\frac{1}{4 \cdot 3}$

Multiply $4$ by $3$ .

$\frac{1}{12}$

Step 7

Find the focus.

The focus of a parabola can be found by adding $p$ to the y-coordinate $k$ if the parabola opens up or down.

$(h, k + p)$

Substitute the known values of $h$ , $p$ , and $k$ into the formula and simplify.

$(- \frac{1}{6}, 0)$

Step 8

Find the axis of symmetry by finding the line that passes through the vertex and the focus.

$x = - \frac{1}{6}$

Step 9

Find the Axis of Symmetry f(x)=3x^2+x

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