Dimitris Charalampidis charalampidisdimitris.
com Functions
Solving Quadratic equations
By quadratic equation, we mean a 2nd degree equation (highest power seen is 2) written in the
form: a x 2 + b x + c = 0
The only restriction we have here, is that a can never be equal to 0. If that ever happened then
the aforementioned form would become bx + c = 0 and would no longer be a 2nd degree one
and therefore not a quadratic.
Apart from that a can be any other real number while for the values of b and c there are not
any restrictions at all.
As with any equation, the solutions of a x 2 + b x + c = 0 , are those numbers which if
substituted in place of x, they would satisfy that form (they would produce a true statement).
To find these solutions there are 3 main ways:
a) By factorizing
b) By completing the squares
c) By applying the quadratic formula
We are now going to work each one of them and see what suits us best
Method 1 (Solving a quadratic equation by factorizing)
Example
Solve x 2 + 5 x + 6 = 0
5x
We are searching for two numbers which if multiplied together they x 2
produce 6 and if added together they produce 5 respectively. x 3
Since the product is 6 (positive number) then these numbers will have
to have the same sign (either both positives or negatives)
Since the sum is 5 (positive), both of them have to be positives.
The numbers for this example will be 2 and 3 and the factorized form This method needs a lot
of thinking and effort. It
of x 2 + 5 x + 6 is ( x + 2 )( x + 3) . Therefore can become more
complicated if the
x2 + 5x + 6 = 0 ( x + 2 )( x + 3) = 0 x = −2 or x = −3 coefficient of x is
2
different than 1 or in
cases where the roots
are not integers.
Dimitris Charalampidis charalampidisdimitris.com Functions
Method 2 (Solving a quadratic equation by Completing the squares)
Example
Solve x 2 + 5 x + 6 = 0
2 2
5 5
x + 5x + 6 = 0
2
x + 5x + − + 6 = 0
2
2 2
2 Completing the squares is a
5 25 24
x+ − + =0 really challenging process.
2 4 4
One can easily be tricked as it
involves a lot of operations.
2 2
5 1 5 1
x+ − =0 x+ = Like the previous method, it can
2 4 2 4 become a little more demanding
2
in case the coefficient of x is
5 1 5 1 other than 1.
x+ = or x + = −
2 2 2 2
4 6
x=− or x=−
2 2
Method 3 (Solving a quadratic equation using the quadratic formula)
While the two previous methods can be either hard or long, there is a method of solving that
only needs the application of formulas and therefore it is easy to work with.
This method can be done in the following steps
Step 1: Identify the values of a, b and c.
a will always be the coefficient of x 2
b will always be the coefficient of x
c will always be the constant term
Step 2: Find the discriminant D, through the formula D = b 2 − 4ac
Dimitris Charalampidis charalampidisdimitris.com Functions
Step 3: If D 0 , then the quadratic’s roots will be given by the formula
−b + D
−b D 2a
x1,2 = =
2a −b − D It is evident that this
3rd method is the
2a simplest of all 3, since
If D 0 , then the quadratic will have no real roots. it does not involve any
thinking but only easy
calculations for any
values of a, b and c
Example: Solve x 2 + 5 x + 6 = 0
a =1 b=5 c=6 , D = b 2 − 4ac = 52 − 4 1 6 = 25 − 24 = 1
−5 + 1 −4
= = −2
2 2
−b D −5 1 −5 1
x1,2 = = = =
2a 2 1 2
−5 − 1 −6
= = −3
2 2
Example: Solve 2 x 2 + 5 x − 3 = 0
a=2 b=5 c = −3 , D = b 2 − 4ac = 52 − 4 2 ( −3) = 25 + 24 = 49
−5 + 7 2 1
= =
4 4 2
−b D −5 49 −5 7
x1,2 = = = =
2a 22 4
−5 − 7 −12
= = −3
4 4
Example: Solve x 2 + 5 x + 7 = 0
a =1 b=5 c=7 , D = b 2 − 4ac = 52 − 4 1 7 = 25 − 28 = −3
No real roots
Dimitris Charalampidis charalampidisdimitris.com Functions
Example: Solve x 2 − 6 x + 9 = 0
a =1 b = −6 c=9 , D = b 2 − 4ac = ( −6 ) − 4 1 9 = 36 − 36 = 0
2
6+0 6
= =3
−b D − ( −6 ) 0 6 0
2 2
x1,2 = = = =
2a 2 1 2
6−0 6
= =3
2 2
