Suspension Bridge

Applying Parabolas in models

Belinda, a civil engineer, designs a model for the curved cable of a 6 m suspension bridge using the equation  , where h metres is the height of the hanging cables above the road for a distance d metres from the left pillar.

What are the possible values for d? Why?

How could you determine the height of the pillars above the road without a graph?

Select all that apply
  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
Check my answer (3)

How could you find the minimum height the cable reaches above the road?

A suspension bridge also needs support cables on the sides
A suspension bridge also needs support cables on the sides

Extension

What would be the equations needed to add the support cables to the graph shown in the applet above? See if you can add them.

Source

Greenwood, David Michael, Dave Robertson, Sara Woolley, Jennifer Goodman, and Jennifer Vaughan. Essential Mathematics for the Australian Curriculum Year 10. 2nd ed. Essential Mathematics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Electronic Format.