Answers: Using the quadratic formula

Author

Tom Coleman

Summary
Answers to questions relating to the guide on using the quadratic formula.

These are the answers to Questions: Using the quadratic formula.

Please attempt the questions before reading these answers!

Answers

Q1

1.1. The two roots of \(x^2 - 7x + 6 = 0\) are \(x = 1\) and \(x = 6\).

1.2. The two roots of \(x^2 + 14x + 45 = 0\) are \(x=-9\) and \(x=-5\).

1.3. The two roots of \(x^2 - 4x + 13 = 0\) are \(x=2-3i\) and \(x=2+3i\).

1.4. The two roots of \(x^2 - x - 56 = 0\) are \(x = -7\) and \(x=8\).

1.5. The one distinct root of \(s^2 + 4s + 4 = 0\) is \(x = -2\).

1.6. The two roots of \(t^2 + 4t - 4 = 0\) are \(t = -2 - 2\sqrt{2}\) and \(t = -2 + 2\sqrt{2}\)

1.7. The two roots of \(m^2 - 144 = 0\) are \(m = -12\) and \(m = 12\).

1.8. The two roots of \(5c^2 - 25 + 30 = 0\) are \(c = -1\) and \(c=1\).

1.9. The two roots of \(2n^2 + n + 1 = 0\) are \(\displaystyle n = \frac{-1 - i\sqrt{7}}{4}\) and \(\displaystyle n = \frac{-1 + i\sqrt{7}}{4}\)

1.10. The two roots of \(-3c^2 + 9c - 1 = 0\) are \(c = \frac{3}{2} - \frac{\sqrt{69}}{6}\) and \(c = \frac{3}{2} + \frac{\sqrt{69}}{6}\).

1.11. The two roots of \(\frac{x^2}{2} - \frac{7x}{2} + 3 = 0\) are \(x = 1\) and \(x = 6\).

1.12. The one distinct root of \(e^{2x} - 4e^x + 4 = 0\) is \(e^x = 2\), giving \(x = \ln(2)\) as a solution.

1.13. The two roots of \(-9s^2 + 3s - 1 = 0\) are \(\displaystyle s = \frac{1 - i\sqrt{3}}{6}\) and \(\displaystyle s = \frac{1 + i\sqrt{3}}{6}\).

1.14. The two roots of \(2e^{6x} + e^{3x} + 1 = 0\) are \(\displaystyle e^{3x} = \frac{-1 - i\sqrt{7}}{4}\) and \(\displaystyle e^{3x} = \frac{-1 + i\sqrt{7}}{4}\), and so there are no real solutions for \(x\).

1.15. The one distinct root of \(\cos^2(x) + 4\cos(x) - 4 = 0\) is \(\cos(x) = 2\), and so there are no real solutions for \(x\) as \(-1\leq \cos(x) \leq 1\) for all real \(x\).

1.16. The two distinct roots of \(8m^2 - 4m - 1 = 0\) are \(\displaystyle m = \frac{1-\sqrt{3}}{4}\) and \(\displaystyle m = \frac{1+\sqrt{3}}{4}\)

Q2

In Questions: Introduction to quadratic equations, you saw that the following expressions are all quadratic equations in disguise. Solve these for the variable indicated.

2.1. The two roots of \(x = 1/x - 1\) are \(\displaystyle x = \frac{-1-\sqrt{5}}{2}\) and \(\displaystyle x = \frac{-1+\sqrt{5}}{2}\).

2.2. The two roots of \((y-1)(y-4) = -(y+2)(y+3)\) are \(y = -i\sqrt{5}\) and \(y = i\sqrt{5}\).

2.3. The one distinct root of \(4m(m+1) + 6 = 5\) is \(m = -1/2\).

2.4. The two roots of \((t-1)(t+1) = -2\) are \(t = -i\) and \(t=i\).

2.5. The two roots of \(\frac{x-1}{x-2} = 5x\) are \(\displaystyle x=\frac{11-\sqrt{101}}{10}\) and \(\displaystyle x=\frac{11+\sqrt{101}}{10}\).

2.6. The two solutions in \(e^x\) for \(\frac{e^{x} - e^{-x}}{2} = 1\) are \(e^x = 1 - \sqrt{2}\) and \(e^x = 1 + \sqrt{2}\). Of these, \(x = \ln(1+\sqrt{2})\) is a valid solution in \(x\), as \(e^x\) cannot be negative.



Version history and licensing

v1.0: initial version created 04/23 by tdhc.

  • v1.1: edited 05/24 by tdhc.

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

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