The image clearly displays a hyperboloid of two sheets. The gallery informs us that the equation will have a form similar to
\(\frac{z^2}{c^2}-\frac{x^2}{a^2}-\frac{y^2}{b^2}=1\text{.}\)
We can immediately eliminate option (a), as the constant in that equation is not 1.
The hyperboloid “opens” along the
\(x\)-axis, meaning
\(x\) must be the only variable with a positive coefficient, eliminating (c).
The hyperboloid is wider in the
\(z\)-direction than in the
\(y\)-direction, so we need an equation where
\(c \gt b\text{.}\) This eliminates (b), leaving us with (d). We should verify that the equation given in (d),
\(4x^2-y^2-\frac{z^2}9=1\text{,}\) fits.
We already established that this equation describes a hyperboloid of two sheets that opens in the
\(x\)-direction and is wider in the
\(z\)-direction than in the
\(y\text{.}\) Now note the coefficient of the
\(x\)-term. Rewriting
\(4x^2\) in standard form, we have:
\(\ds 4x^2 = \frac{x^2}{(1/2)^2}\text{.}\) Thus when
\(y=0\) and
\(z=0\text{,}\) \(x\) must be
\(1/2\text{;}\) i.e., each hyperboloid “starts” at
\(x=1/2\text{.}\) This matches our figure.
We conclude that
\(\ds 4x^2-y^2-\frac{z^2}9=1\) best fits the graph.