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First of all, let’s take a quick review of the quadratic equation. A quadratic equation is a polynomial
of a second degree, usually in the form of f(x) = ax 2 + bx + c where a, b, c, ∈ R, and a ≠ 0. The term
‘a’ is referred to as the leading coefficient, while ‘c’ is the absolute term of f (x).
Every quadratic equation has two values of the unknown variable, usually known as the roots of
the equation (α, β). We can obtain the roots of a quadratic equation by factoring the equation.
To solve the quadratic equation ax 2 + bx + c = 0 by factorization, the following steps are used:
Example 1
Solve: 2(x 2 + 1) = 5x
Solution
Expand the equation and move all the terms to the left of the equal sign.
⟹ 2x 2 – 5x + 2 = 0
⟹ 2x 2 – 4x – x + 2 = 0
⟹ 2x (x – 2) – 1(x – 2) = 0
⟹ (x – 2) (2x – 1) = 0
⟹ x – 2 = 0 or 2x – 1 = 0
⟹ x = 2 or x = 1/2
The are many methods of factorizing quadratic equations. In this article, our emphasis will be based
on how to factor quadratic equations, in which the coefficient of x2 is either 1 or greater than 1.
Therefore, we will use the trial and error method to get the right factors for the given quadratic
equation.
Example 2
1 × 10, 2 × 5
Identify two factors with a product of 10 and a sum of 7:
1 + 10 ≠ 7
2 + 5 = 7.
x + 2 = 0 ⟹x= -2
x + 5 = 0 ⟹ x = -5
Example 3
Solution
1 × –5, –1 × 5
1–5≠4
–1 + 5 = 4
Example 4
x2 – 5x – 6
Solution
1 × –6, –1 × 6, 2 × –3, –2 × 3
1 + (–6) = –5
x + 1 = 0 ⇒ x = -1, or
x–6=0⇒x=6
Example 5
x2 – 6x + 8 = 0
Solution
Write down all factors of 8.
–1 × – 8, –2 × –4
Now equate each factor to zero and solve the expression to get;
(x – 2) (x – 4) = 0
x – 2 = 0 ⇒ x = 2, or
x–4=0⇒x=4
Sometimes, the leading coefficient of a quadratic equation may be greater than 1. In this case, we
can not solve the quadratic equation by the use of common factors.
Therefore, we need to consider the coefficient of x 2 and the factors of c to find numbers whose sum is
b.
Example 6
Solve 2x2 – 14x + 20 = 0
Solution
Now we can find the factors of (x2 – 7x + 10). Therefore, write down factors of 10:
–1 × –10, –2 × –5
Identify factors whose sum is – 7:
1 + (–10) ≠ –7
–2 + (–5) = –7
x – 2 = 0 ⇒ x = 2, or
x–5=0⇒x=5
Example 7
Solution
7=1×7
11 = 1 × 11
x = -1, -11/7
Example 8
Solution
2x2 − 7x + 3 = 0
(2x − 1) (x − 3) = 0
x=1/2 or x=3
Practice Questions
Activity 1
Answer practice and application page 13. Numbers 31-40 (E – MATH).