Hidden Quadratic Equations

So the "Standard Form" of a Quadratic Equation is

ax2 + bx + c = 0
But sometimes a quadratic equation doesn't look like that!
For example:
In disguise
x2 = 3x -1
2(w2 - 2w) = 5
z(z-1) = 3
5 + 1/x - 1/x2 = 0

Move all terms to left hand side

Expand (undo the brackets),
and move 5 to left
Expand, and move 3 to left
Multiply by x2

In Standard Form
x2 - 3x + 1 = 0

a, b and c
a=1, b=-3, c=1

2w2 - 4w - 5 = 0

a=2, b=-4, c=-5

z2 - z - 3 = 0
5x2 + x - 1 = 0

a=1, b=-1, c=-3

a=5, b=1, c=-1

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How To Solve It?

The "solutions" to the Quadratic Equation are where it is equal to zero.
There are usually 2 solutions (as shown in the graph above).
They are also called "roots", or sometimes "zeros"
There are 3 ways to find the solutions:
1. We can Factor the Quadratic (find what to multiply to make the Quadratic Equation)
2. We can Complete the Square, or
3. We can use the special Quadratic Formula:

Just plug in the values of a, b and c, and do the calculations.

We will look at this method in more detail now.
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About the Quadratic Formula

Plus/Minus
First of all what is that plus/minus thing that looks like ?
The means there are TWO answers:

Here is why we can get two answers:

But sometimes we don't get two real answers, and the "Discriminant" shows why.
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Discriminant
Do you see b2 - 4ac in the formula above? It is called the Discriminant, because it can "discriminate"
between the possible types of answer:

when b2 - 4ac is positive, we get two Real solutions

when it is zero we get just ONE real solution (both answers are the same)

when it is negative we get two Complex solutions

Complex solutions? Let's talk about them after we see how to use the formula.
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Using the Quadratic Formula

Just put the values of a, b and c into the Quadratic Formula, and do the calculations.

Example: Solve 5x + 6x + 1 = 0
Coefficients are: a = 5, b = 6, c = 1
Quadratic Formula: x = [ -b (b2-4ac) ] / 2a
Put in a, b and c: x = [ -6 (62-451) ] / (25)
Solve: x = [ -6 (36-20) ]/10
x = [ -6 (16) ]/10
x = ( -6 4 )/10
x = -0.2 or -1

Answer: x = -0.2 or x = -1

And we see them on this graph.

Check -0.2:

Check -1:

5(-0.2) + 6(-0.2) + 1
= 5(0.04) + 6(-0.2) + 1
= 0.2 -1.2 + 1
=0
5(-1) + 6(-1) + 1
= 5(1) + 6(-1) + 1
=5-6+1
=0

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Complex Solutions?
When the Discriminant (the value b2 - 4ac) is negative we get Complex solutions ... what does that mean?
It means our answer will include Imaginary Numbers. Wow!

Example: Solve 5x + 2x + 1 = 0
Coefficients are:
Note that The Discriminant is negative:
Use the Quadratic Formula:

a = 5, b = 2, c = 1
b2 - 4ac = 22 - 451 = -16
x = [ -2 (-16) ] / 10

The square root of -16 is 4i

(i is -1, read Imaginary Numbers to find out more)
So:

x = ( -2 4i )/10

Answer: x = -0.2 0.4i

The graph does not cross the x-axis. That is why we

ended up with complex numbers.

In some ways it is easier: we don't need more calculation, just leave it as -0.2 0.4i.

Is it Quadratic?

Only if it can be put in the form ax2 + bx + c = 0, and a is not zero.

The name comes from "quad" meaning square, as the variable is squared (in other words x2).
These are all quadratic equations in disguise:
In disguise

In standard form

a, b and c

x2 = 3x -1

x2 - 3x + 1 = 0

a=1, b=-3, c=1

2(x2 - 2x) = 5

2x2 - 4x - 5 = 0

a=2, b=-4, c=-5

x(x-1) = 3

x2 - x - 3 = 0

a=1, b=-1, c=-3

5 + 1/x - 1/x2 = 0

5x2 + x - 1 = 0

a=5, b=1, c=-1

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How Does this Work?

The solution(s) to a quadratic equation can be calculated using the Quadratic Formula:

The "" means you need to do a plus AND a minus, so there are normally TWO solutions !
The blue part (b2 - 4ac) is called the "discriminant", because it can "discriminate" between the possible types
of answer. If it is positive, you will get two real solutions, if it is zero you get just ONE solution, and if it is
negative you get complex solutions.

Graphing Quadratic Equations

A Quadratic Equation in Standard Form
(a, b, and c can have any value, except that a can't be 0.)
Here is an example:

The Simplest Quadratic

The simplest Quadratic Equation is:

f(x) = x2

And its graph is simple too:

This is the curve f(x) = x2

It is a parabola.
Now let us see what happens when we introduce the "a" value:
f(x) = ax2

Larger values of a squash the curve

Smaller values of a expand it

And negative values of a flip it upside down

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The "General" Quadratic

Before graphing we rearrange the equation, from this:

f(x) = ax2 + bx + c
To this:
f(x) = a(x-h)2 + k
Where:

h = -b/2a

k = f( h )

In other words, calculate h (=-b/2a), then find k by calculating the whole equation for x=h
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First of all ... Why?

Well, the wonderful thing about this new form is that h and k show us the
very lowest (or very highest) point, called the vertex:
And also the curve is symmetrical (mirror image) about the axis that passes
through x=h, making it easy to graph

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h shows us how far left (or right) the curve has been shifted from x=0

k shows us how far up (or down) the curve has been shifted from y=0

Example: Plot f(x) = 2x2 - 12x + 16

First, let's note down:

a = 2,

b = -12, and

c = 16

Now, what do we know?

a is positive, so it is an "upwards" graph ("U" shaped)

a is 2, so it is a little "squashed" compared to the x2 graph

Next, let's calculate h:

h = -b/2a = -(-12)/(2x2) = 3

And next we can calculate k (using h=3):

k = f(3) = 2(3)2 - 123 + 16 = 18-36+16 = -2

So now we can plot the graph (with real understanding!):

We also know: the vertex is (3,-2), and the axis is x=3

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From A Graph to The Equation

What if we have a graph, and want to find an equation?

Example: you have just plotted some interesting data, and it looks Quadratic:

Just knowing those two points we can come up with an equation.

Firstly, we know h and k (at the vertex):
(h, k) = (1,1)
So let's put that into this form of the equation:
f(x) = a(x-h)2 + k
f(x) = a(x-1)2 + 1
Then we calculate "a":
We know (0, 1.5) so:

And we know the function (except for a):

f(0) = 1.5

f(0) = a(0-1)2 + 1 = 1.5

Simplify:

f(0) = a + 1 = 1.5
a = 0.5

And so here is the resulting Quadratic Equation:

f(x) = 0.5(x-1)2 + 1