Derivation for the length of a parabola.

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$$ \int_{x_1} ^{x_2}\sqrt{1+f^{'}(x)^2}dx$$

I would separately determine limits $x_1, x_2 $ as well as $x_3$(vertex) of the parabola

$y= a x^2+b x+c$

getting length before inserting limits:

$ \frac{1}{4a}\left[(2ax+b)+\sqrt{1+(2ax+b)^2}+\log\left((2ax+b)+\sqrt{1+(2ax+b)^2}\right)\right] $

Is it so far correct? Much appreciated.

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By translating the parabola in such a way that the $x$-coordinate of the vertex is zero, it is trivial that we may assume $y=ax^2$, hence we just need to check that: $$ \int_{0}^{u}\sqrt{1+4a^2 x^2}\,dx = \frac{u}{2}\sqrt{1+4a^2 u^2}+\frac{1}{4a}\operatorname{arcsinh}(2au).$$ It is interesting to notice that the last integral is related with the area of the circle (it is just its hyperbolic counterpart): $$ \int_{0}^{u}\sqrt{1-x^2}\,dx = \frac{u}{2}\sqrt{1-u^2}+\frac{1}{2}\arcsin u.$$ First piece on the RHS given by the area of a triangle, second piece given by the area of a circular sector.