[solved] – Question 95808

Consider the parabola defined by y = x
2 − 2x − 1. The distance d(x) from the origin
(0, 0) to a point (x, y) on the parabola is given by
d(x) = q
x
2 + (x
2 − 2x − 1)
2
.
(a) Write a MATLAB program and function M-file to plot d(x) for −2 ≤ x ≤ 4. Also use the
function M-file and the fminbnd command to find (and display) the point (xmin,ymin) on
the parabola that is closest to the origin and display the minimum distance (i.e., the distance
from the origin to the point (xmin,ymin)).
(b) Write a MATLAB program using the fzero command to find the point(s) on the parabola at
distance 4 from the origin.

Expert Answer

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