Find the equation of a parabola with a vertical axis and its vertex at the origin and passing through the point (-2, 3)

a vertical axis, I assume it means a vertical axis of symmetry, thus it'd be a vertical parabola, like the one in the picture below.

- "runner b is moving at a slower rate."

- "the graphs shown are graphs of distance(km) against time(min).

the slopes of this graphs are are given by:

slope = (change in y)/(change in x)

= (change in distance)/(change in time)

this is the formula for finding the speed. so, the slope of these graphs represent the speed of the runner.

taking each division in the graph to represent 1 on both axis:

runner a ⇒ speed = (2-0)/(1-0)

= 2/1

= 2 km/min

runner b ⇒ speed = (3-0)/(3-0)

= 3/3

= 1 km/min

this shows that   runner b is moving at a slower rate."

54/3 is 18 so 18 is your answer