If a parabola has two x-intercepts, then its vertex...

is above the x-intercepts.

is EXACTLY halfway between the x-intercepts.

is somewhere in between the x-intercepts.

is below the x-intercepts.

1 answer

If a parabola has two x-intercepts, it means that it opens either upwards or downwards and crosses the x-axis at two distinct points.

  1. If the parabola opens upwards, the vertex will be the minimum point of the parabola and will be located above the x-axis. Therefore, in this case, the vertex could be above or right at the axis but will definitely be somewhere in between.

  2. If the parabola opens downwards, the vertex will be the maximum point, and it will be located below the x-axis. However, it will still be between the two x-intercepts on the horizontal axis.

Thus, regardless of whether the parabola opens upwards or downwards, the vertex is always somewhere in between the x-intercepts.

Therefore, the correct answer is:

is somewhere in between the x-intercepts.