How to Solve Quadratic Equations - Home Tutoring Services
Before tackling the issue of how to solve a quadratic equation, it is important to be able to identify one!
A quadratic function is any function in which the power of the leading coefficient is equal to two.
That is, the highest power of the independent variable in the function has to be two. The standard/general form of such a function is f(x) ax^2 + bx + c, where a, b, c are constants and a cannot be equal to zero. When a > 0, the graph of this function is a parabola that opens upward and when a 0, the graph opens upward and if a < 0, the graph opens downward.
Many times, the quadratic function is set equal to zero (with f(x) 0) in order to solve for the x-intercepts (or roots) of the function. This process may also be referred to as solving a quadratic equation. When this is done, the quadratic function in standard form becomes a quadratic equation of the form ax^2 + bx + c 0.
The first method that can be used to solve a quadratic equation is factoring:
The quadratic equation in standard form can be factored into two binomials, that is, two polynomials with two terms. For example, 2x^2 + x