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The Nature of The Solutions To A Quadratic B Ac B X A BXC Ax

This document discusses the discriminant of quadratic equations and what it reveals about the number and type of solutions. The discriminant, which is b^2 - 4ac in the quadratic formula, determines whether the solutions are real or imaginary. A positive discriminant means there are two real solutions. A negative discriminant means there are two complex solutions. A zero discriminant means there is one real solution. The document provides examples of quadratic equations and calculates their discriminants to show the number and type of solutions. It also discusses that the x-intercepts of a quadratic equation are the same as the solutions when y=0, and thus the number of x-intercepts also depends on the sign of the discriminant.

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Sam Shah
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22K views4 pages

The Nature of The Solutions To A Quadratic B Ac B X A BXC Ax

This document discusses the discriminant of quadratic equations and what it reveals about the number and type of solutions. The discriminant, which is b^2 - 4ac in the quadratic formula, determines whether the solutions are real or imaginary. A positive discriminant means there are two real solutions. A negative discriminant means there are two complex solutions. A zero discriminant means there is one real solution. The document provides examples of quadratic equations and calculates their discriminants to show the number and type of solutions. It also discusses that the x-intercepts of a quadratic equation are the same as the solutions when y=0, and thus the number of x-intercepts also depends on the sign of the discriminant.

Uploaded by

Sam Shah
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Algebra II | Packer Collegiate Institute The nature of solutions and x-intercepts The nature of the solutions to a quadratic The quadratic formula is: x = a true statement. We have gotten all sorts of different solutions to quadratics For x 2 3 x + 7 = 0 , the solutions are x =
x 1.5 2.18i )

b b 2 4ac . It tells us the x values that make ax 2 + bx + c = 0 2a

3 19i 3 19i & x= (or x 1.5 + 2.18i and + 2 2 2 2

5 13 5 13 For 3 x 2 + 5 x + 1 = 0 , the solutions are x = + & x= (or x 0.23 and x 1.43 ) 6 6 6 6 For x 2 4 x + 4 = 0 , the solution is x = 2 . Some of the quadratics have solutions with imaginary numbers ( i ), while others dont. Look at the quadratic formula. Circle the part of the formula which determines whether there is an imaginary number in the solutions or not:

b b 2 4 ac x= 2a
This expression is known as: When this expression is negative, we know we will have ____ non-real solution(s) (solutions involving i ). This is because: When this expression is positive, we know we will have ____ real solution(s) (solutions not involving i ). This is because: When this expression is zero, we know we will have ____ real solution(s). This is because:

Lets check this out. 1

For the examples above, find the value of the discriminant: For x 2 3 x + 7 = 0 , the discriminant is ______. Thus, there is/are ______________ solution(s). For 3 x 2 + 5 x + 1 = 0 , the discriminant is ______. Thus, there is/are ______________ solution(s). For x 2 4 x + 4 = 0 , discriminant is ______. Thus, there is/are ______________ solution(s). The discriminant doesnt tell us what the solutions are, but they do tell us what these solutions look like.

The x-intercepts of a quadratic What do we mean when we say x-intecept? ______________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________. What is true about the y-coordinate of all x-intercepts? _______________________________________. On your graphing calculators, graph the following, and find the x-intercepts. Use ZOOM STANDARD. Calculator Instruction: To find the x-intercepts, go to CALC > ZERO > then pick the left bound and right bound so youre to the left and right of the x-intercept. y = x 2 3x + 7 y = 3x 2 + 5x + 1 y = x2 4 x + 4

x-intercept(s):

x-intercept(s):

x-intercept(s):

Look at the x-intercepts. What do you notice? Recall, since x-intercepts occur when y=0, what were really doing is finding the solutions to x 2 3 x + 7 = 0 , 3 x 2 + 5 x + 1 = 0 , and x 2 4 x + 4 = 0 . Heres where things get interesting The first parabola has ______ x-intercepts because: The second parabola has _____ x-intercepts because: The third parabola has _____ x-intercepts because:

Check yoself before you wreck yoself: How many x-intercepts do the following parabolas have? (a) f ( x) = 2 x 2 3x + 1 (b) y = 2 x 2 + 2 x + 1

(c) g ( x) = x 2 3 x + 10

(d) h( x) = 25 x 2 + 20 x + 4

Lets summarize the discriminant: For a quadratic equation 0 = ax 2 + bx + c a positive discriminant means: a negative discriminant means: a zero discriminant means: For a quadratic equation y = ax 2 + bx + c a positive discriminant means: a negative discriminant means: a zero discriminant means:

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