Section 3.

1 Quadratic Functions (degree 2) __________________________________________________________________________________

f ( x ) = ax 2 + bx + c, a ! 0

Standard Form:

Graph of f is a parabola which: opens up if a > 0 opens down if a < 0 (x-coordinate of the vertex) =
!b 2a

" !b % (y-coordinate of the vertex) = f $ ' # 2a &

To determine how many x-intercepts the graph of f has (or equivalently, how many real solutions the equation f(x) = 0 has), use the discriminant: #> 0 " two x-intercepts % 2 b ! 4 ac = $ = 0 " one x-intercept % < 0 " no x-intercepts &

Alternate Form:

f ( x ) = a ( x ! h )2 + k , a " 0

Graph of f is a parabola which: opens up if a > 0 opens down if a < 0 (x-coordinate of the vertex) = h (y-coordinate of the vertex) = k

The alternate form of a quadratic equation is obtained from the standard form by a process called completing the square. You should have covered this technique in your high school algebra class. However, if you would like to see additional examples, they can be found on page 977 981 of the course textbook.