Latus Rectum Calculator

Find the latus rectum length of the parabola y = ax².

Latus rectum length 4

Focal distance 1

Formula: length = 1/|a| (for y = ax²)

Step-by-step with your numbers:

1. Values used:

2. a (coefficient) = 0.25

4. Latus rectum length = 4

5. Focal distance = 1

Did we solve your problem today?

The latus rectum is the chord through the focus, perpendicular to the axis of a conic.

The math behind it

For y = ax², the latus rectum length is 1/|a| and the focal distance from the vertex is 1/(4|a|).

y = 0.25x² → latus rectum = 4, focal distance = 1.

Why does it matter?

Its length describes how 'wide' the conic is at the focus, useful for graphing and optics.