MATHEMATICS PROJECT

1 ] QUADRATIC EQUATIONS IN ONE VARIABLE

The degree of an equation in one variable is the exponent of the highest power to which the
variable is raised in that equation. A second degree equation in one variable is one in which the
variable is raised to the second power. A second-degree equation is often called a QUADRATIC
EQUATION. The word quadratic is derived from the Latin word quadratus, which means
"squared." In a quadratic equation the term of highest degree is the squared term. For
example, the following are quadratic equations:

The terms of degree lower than the second may or may not be present. The possible terms of
lower degree than the squared term in a quadratic equation are the first-degree term and the
constant term. In the equation

        3x2 - 8x - 5= 0

-5 is the coefficient of x0. If we wished to emphasize the powers of x in this equation, we could
write the equation in the form

        3x2 - 8x1 - 5x0 = 0

The standard form of a quadratic equation in one variable x is ax² + bx + c = 0, where a, b, c are
real numbers and a # 0.

e.g., 7x² + 19x - 60 is a quadratic equation in standard form.

It has two solutions which are called the roots of the equation. If a is a root of the equation
ax²+bx+c = 0, then x = a must satisfy the equation, i.e., when x = a is substituted in the equation
it becomes aa² + ba + c = 0.

2]

In algebra, a quadratic equation (from the Latin quadratus for "square") is any equation that
can be rearranged in standard form as
where x represents an unknown, and a, b, and c represent known numbers, where a ≠ 0. If a = 0,

then the equation is linear, not quadratic, as there is no term. The numbers a, b, and c
are the coefficients of the equation and may be distinguished by calling them, respectively, the
quadratic coefficient, the linear coefficient and the constant or free term.[1]

The values of x that satisfy the equation are called solutions of the equation, and roots or zeros of
the expression on its left-hand side. A quadratic equation has at most two solutions. If there is no
real solution, there are two complex solutions. If there is only one solution, one says that it is a
double root. A quadratic equation always has two roots, if complex roots are included and a
double root is counted for two. A quadratic equation can be factored into an equivalent equation

where r and s are the solutions for x. Completing the square on a quadratic equation in standard
form results in the quadratic formula, which expresses the solutions in terms of a, b, and c.