1. Intro to
Quadratic Equations

2. What are we trying to do?
At least get the equation into quadratic form; often solve for x.
2x2 = 3x – 1
2x2 - 3x + 1 = 0
This might be as far as we can get – but we always want to get at least this far.
If possible, factor it further:
(2x – 1)(x – 1) = 0

3. Solving (2x – 1)(x – 1) = 0 What do we do to solve?
Each binomial can be treated as a separate term. When we multiply two things together and they equal 0, one of them must be 0.
Thus, we set each binomial equal to 0 and solve.

4. Solving (2x – 1)(x – 1) = 0 First binomial: 2x – 1 = 0 2x = 1 x = ½
Second Binomial:
x – 1 = 0
x = 1
So x = 1, ½

5. What if it doesn’t factor?
Quadratic formula:
For any quadratic equation where
ax2 + bx + c = 0
(-b +/- √(b2-4ac))/2a
We aren’t doing that today, but we’ll be deriving this later this week.