QuadraticEquations

AnexampleofaQuadraticEquation:

this makes it Quadratic

5x2 + 3x + 3

QuadraticEquationsmakenicecurves,likethisone:

Name

ThenameQuadraticcomesfrom"quad"meaningsquare,becausethevariable
gets squared (likex2).

Itisalsocalledan"Equationof Degree 2"(becauseofthe"2"onthex)

Standard Form
TheStandardFormofaQuadraticEquationlookslikethis:

a,bandcareknownvalues.acan'tbe0.

"x"isthevariableorunknown(wedon'tknowityet).

Herearesomemoreexamples:

2x2+5x+3=0 Inthisonea=2,b=5andc=3

x23x=0 Thisoneisalittlemoretricky:
Whereisa?Wella=1,andwedon'tusuallywrite"1x2"
 Whereisa?Wella=1,andwedon'tusuallywrite"1x "
b=3
Andwhereisc?Wellc=0,soisnotshown.

5x3=0 Oops!Thisoneisnotaquadraticequation:itismissingx2

(inotherwordsa=0,whichmeansitcan'tbequadratic)

Hidden Quadratic Equations!

Sothe"StandardForm"ofaQuadraticEquationis

ax2+bx+c=0

Butsometimesaquadraticequationdoesn'tlooklikethat!Forexample:

Indisguise InStandardForm a,bandc

x2=3x1 Movealltermstolefthandside x23x+1=0 a=1,b=3,c=1

Expand(undothebrackets),
2(w22w)=5 2w24w5=0 a=2,b=4,c=5
andmove5toleft

z(z1)=3 Expand,andmove3toleft z2z3=0 a=1,b=1,c=3

Have a Play With It

Playwiththe" QuadraticEquationExplorer "soyoucansee:

thegraphitmakes,and
thesolutions(called"roots").

How To Solve It?

The"solutions"totheQuadraticEquationarewhereitisequaltozero.

Thereareusually2solutions(asshowninthegraphabove).
Theyarealsocalled"roots",orsometimes"zeros"

Thereare3waystofindthesolutions:
 1.WecanFactortheQuadratic(findwhattomultiplytomaketheQuadratic
Equation)

2.WecanCompletetheSquare,or

3.WecanusethespecialQuadraticFormula:

- b +
- b2
- 4 ac
x=
2a
Justpluginthevaluesofa,bandc,anddothecalculations.

Wewilllookatthismethodinmoredetailnow.

About the Quadratic Formula

Plus/Minus

?
Firstofallwhatisthatplus/minusthingthatlookslike

The meansthereareTWOanswers:

Hereiswhywecangettwoanswers:

Butsometimeswedon'tgettworealanswers,andthe"Discriminant"showswhy...

Discriminant

Doyouseeb24acintheformulaabove?ItiscalledtheDiscriminant,becauseitcan
"discriminate"betweenthepossibletypesofanswer:

whenb24acispositive,wegettwoRealsolutions

whenitiszerowegetjustONErealsolution(bothanswersarethesame)

whenitisnegativewegettwoComplexsolutions

Complexsolutions?Let'stalkaboutthemafterweseehowtousetheformula.


UsingtheQuadraticFormula

Justputthevaluesofa,bandcintotheQuadraticFormula,anddothecalculations.

Example:Solve5x+6x+1=0

Coefficientsare: a=5,b=6,c=1

b(b24ac)
QuadraticFormula: x=
2a

6(62451)
Putina,bandc: x=
25

6(3620)
Solve: x=
10
6(16)
x=
10
64
x=
10
x=0.2or1

Answer:x=0.2orx=1

Andweseethemonthisgraph.

Check0.2: 5(0.2)+6(0.2)+1
=5(0.04)+6(0.2)+1

=0.21.2+1
=0
Check1: 5(1)+6(1)+1
=5(1)+6(1)+1
=56+1
=0

RememberingTheFormula

Idon'tknowofaneasywaytoremembertheQuadraticFormula,butakindreadersuggested
singingitto"PopGoestheWeasel":

"xequalsminusb "Allaroundthemulberrybush

plusorminusthesquareroot Themonkeychasedtheweasel
ofbsquaredminusfourac Themonkeythought'twasallinfun
allovertwoa" Pop!goestheweasel"

Trysingingitafewtimesanditwillgetstuckinyourhead!

Oryoucanrememberthisstory:

b(b24ac)
x=
2a

"Anegativeboywasthinkingyesornoaboutgoingtoaparty,
atthepartyhetalkedtoasquareboybutnottothe4awesomechicks.
Itwasalloverat2am."

Complex Solutions?
WhentheDiscriminant(thevalueb24ac)isnegativeweget Complex solutions...whatdoes
thatmean?

Itmeansouranswerwillinclude ImaginaryNumbers .Wow!

Example:Solve5x+2x+1=0

Coefficientsare: a=5,b=2,c=1

NotethattheDiscriminantisnegative: b24ac=2 2451=16

2(16)
UsetheQuadraticFormula: x=
10

Thesquarerootof16is4i
(iis1,readImaginaryNumberstofindoutmore)

24i
So: x=
10
 Answer:x=0.20.4i

Thegraphdoesnotcrossthexaxis.Thatis
whyweendedupwithcomplexnumbers.

Insomewaysitiseasier:wedon'tneedmorecalculation,justleaveitas0.20.4i.

Summary
QuadraticEquationinStandardForm:ax2+bx+c=0

QuadraticEquationscanbefactored

2
QuadraticFormula:x= b(b 4ac)
2a

WhentheDiscriminant(b24ac)is:

positive,thereare2realsolutions

zero,thereisonerealsolution

negative,thereare2complexsolutions

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