6.

1 Solving Quadratic Equations

Quadratic Equation: an equation that contains at least one term whose

highest degree is 2; for example, x  x  2  0
2

Solving a Quadratic Equation: To solve for “x”.

 From Standard Form y  ax  bx  c  0 , we can factor to y  a ( x  r )( x  s ) and
2

solve for x
 In this section, you will learn to solve quadratic equations for any value of “y”.

The graphs below show the 3 possible solutions when solving a quadratic equation

2 zeros 1 zero no zeros

Solving by Factoring

The zero product property states that if the product of 2 numbers

is zero, then one or both of the numbers must be zero

Example 1: Solve (x  3)(x  1)  0

Using the zero product property:
 To Solve a Quadratic Equation:
1. Replace the y term with the given value.
2. Rearrange the quadratic equation to standard form: ax  bx  c
2

3. Factor the quadratic equation, if possible.

4. Set the factor each to zero and solve for x.

Example 2: Solve the following equations by using the most efficient method:
a) 0  2 x 2  18 b) y 2  30  7 y

c) 2 x 2  9 x  4  0 d) 3 x( x  6)  50  2 x 2  3( x  2)

Example 2: Solve the following quadratic equation y  x 2  8 x  12 for when y = -3. Use a quick
sketch to help explain this solution.
Example 4: A trendy boutique sells blouses. Over the last season the manager used the quadratic
relations R   x 2  20 x  300 to model the effect on revenue of raising or lowering the price. R is
the revenue in dollars and x is the price change in dollars. The relation is graphed below.

1. Use the graph to determine the price change that produces

the maximum revenue. 450

400

350

300

Revenue ($)
250

200

150

100
2. At what amount of increase or decrease does the shop get no
50
revenue?
-15 -10 -5 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Price Change ($)

3. What is the price change that results in a revenue of $375?

4. What is the price change that results in a revenue of 300?

Equation 2 Equation 3 Equation 4

 x  20 x  300  0
2
 x  20 x  300  375
2
 6.3 Completing the Square

Recall: A quadratic relation in standard form y = ax2 + bx + c can be rewritten in vertex form
y = a(x - h)2 +k by creating a perfect square in the expression, then factoring the square. This
technique is called completing the square.

Example 1: Rewrite the following relation from standard form to vertex form.

y = x2 + 8x + 15 Step 1: Take the coeffecient of the middle term (b) and

_________ by _____ then __________ the number to
make a perfect square.

y = (x2 + 8x + ____ – ____ ) + 15 Step 2 : Add and subtract this number.

y = (x2 + 8x + ____ ) – ____ + 15 Step 3: Group the first three terms, which form the
perfect square and factor. The negative term gets
“kicked out” of the bracket.

y = (x + ____ ) (x + ____ ) – 16 + 15 Step 4: Simplify by combining the brackets and adding

the constants.

y = (x + ____ )2 – ____ * Congratulations you have just written the parabola in

vertex form!

Identify the vertex:

 Completing the square can be used to find the vertex of a quadratic without finding the zeros
of the relation.

 Completing the square allows you to find the maximum or minimum value of a quadratic relation
algebraically, without using a graph.
Example 2: Determine the vertex by completing the square

1 2
a) y  2 x 2  8 x  5 b) y  x  6 x  20
2

2 2 1
c) Challenge!!!!!! y x  x3
3 6
Example 4:
Cassidy's diving platform is 6 ft above the water. One of her dives can be modelled by the
equation d = x2 - 7x + 6, where d her position relative to the surface of the water and x is her
horizontal distance from the platform. Both distances are measured in feet.

a) How deep did Cassidy go before coming back up to the surface? (Minimum point)

b) When will Cassidy come back up to the surface of the water?

 6.4 The Quadratic Formula

The Quadratic Formula

A formula used for determining the roots of a quadratic equation of the form
ax2 + bx + c

The quadratic formula is written using the coefficients and the constant in the equation:

This formula provides a way to calculate the roots of a quadratic equation without
graphing or factoring.

The solutions to the equation ax2 + bx + c = 0 correspond to the zeros, or x-intercepts, of

the relation ax2 + bx + c.

Example 1: Determine the solutions to each equation using the most efficient method:

a) $ ! − 7$ + 6 = 0 Solutions of a quadratic equation in the form 5$ ! +

6$ + 7 = 0 can sometimes be found by factoring

b) 3$ ! − 10 = 8 Quadratic equations that do not contain an x-term

can be solved by isolating the x2 term

c) 2($ + 1)! − 32 = 0 Quadratic equations in vertex form can be solved

by isolating the x - term

d)$ ! + 5$ − 2 = 0 When a quadratic equation CANNOT be factored,

we can solve by using the Quadratic Formula
Example 2: Solve the following quadratic equations. Round your solutions to 2 decimal places is possible.

a) 3x (5x – 4) + 2x = x2 – 4(x – 3)

b) 3x (x + 4) = (4x -1)2
Example 3: A public rectangular-shaped pool is 15m by 30m. Public pools must be surrounded by a
cement walkway of uniform width whose area is as large as the area of the pool. What is the width of
the walkway?

Example 4: A rectangular lawn measuring 8m by 4m is surrounded by a flower bed of uniform width.

The combined area of the lawn and the flower bed is 165m2. What is the width of the flower bed?
 6.5 Interpreting Quadratic Equation Roots

Goal: Determine the number of roots of a quadratic equation, and relate these roots to the corresponding
relation.

Recall:

Root: a solution; a number that can be substituted for the variable to make the equation a true
statement; for example x = 1 is a root of x2+ x – 2 = 0, since 12 + 1 – 2 = 0

Let’s Investigate…

How many roots do the following quadratic relations have?

Follow-up: How is the number of real roots related to the value of the discriminant?

What is the discriminant?

The expression b2 – 4ac in the quadratic formula

Note: The value of the discriminant will determine the number of real roots.
Example 1: Using the discriminant, determine the number of real roots for each of the following
equations and describe the graph of the corresponding relation.

a) 3$ ! + 4$ + 5 = 0 b) −2$ ! + 7$ + 1 = 0 c) 9$ ! − 12$ + 4 = 0

In Summary,

Note: Using the discriminant will help us determine the number of zeros but will not
tell us the value of these zeros.

What methods can be used to find the values of the zeros?

Example 2: For what value(s) of m does the equation 2$ ! + 9$ + 8 = 0 have one real root?

Example 3: For what value(s) of k does the following equation :$ ! + 2$ + 4 = 0 have one real root?

Example 4: For what value(s) of m does the relation 9$ ! + 3$ + 2 = 0 have no roots?

 6.6 Solving Problems Using Quadratic Models

Strategizing: When solving a problem that involves a quadratic relation, there

are ways to approach which method is most useful:

i) Vertex Form: to determine the maximum or minimum value of the relation

ii) Standard/Factored Form: to determine the value of x that corresponds to a

given y-value of the relation. You may need to use the quadratic formula.
(Zeros/Roots)

Example 1: The volunteers at a food bank are arranging a concert to raise money. They have to
pay a set fee to the musicians, plus an additional fee to the concert hall for each person attending
the concert. The relation P   n 2  580n  48000 models the profit, P, in dollars, for the concert,
where n is the number of tickets sold.

a) Calculate the number of tickets they must sell to break even.

b) Determine the number of tickets they must sell to maximize profits.

Example 3: Statisticians use various models to make predictions about population growth.
Ontario’s population (in 100 000s) can be modelled by the relation P  0.007 x 2  0.196 x  21.5 ,
where x is the number of years since 1900.

a) Using this model, what was Ontario’s population in 1925?

10
8
6
4
2

-10 -8 -6 -4 -2 2 4 6 8 10
-2
-4
-6
-8
-10

b) When will Ontario’s population reach 15 million?

Example 4: Lila is creating dog runs for her dog kennel. She can afford 30 m of chain-link fence to
surround four dog runs. The runs will be attached to a wall, as shown in the diagram. To achieve the
maximum area, what dimensions should Lila use for each run and for the combined enclosure?

WALL