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4: Quadratic Equations

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    142780
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    • 4.1: Quadratic Equations and Solving by Factoring
      We have already solved linear equations, equations of the form ax+by=c . In linear equations, the variables have no exponents. Quadratic equations are equations in which the variable is squared.
    • 4.2: Solve Quadratic Equations Using the Square Root Property
      Quadratic equations are equations of the form ax²+bx+c=0 , where a≠0 . They differ from linear equations by including a term with the variable raised to the second power. We use different methods to solve quadratic equations than linear equations, because just adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing terms will not isolate the variable. We have seen that some quadratic equations can be solved by factoring. In this chapter, we will use three other methods to solve quadratic equations.
    • 4.3: Solve Quadratic Equations Using the Quadratic Formula
      We have already seen how to solve a formula for a specific variable ‘in general’ so that we would do the algebraic steps only once and then use the new formula to find the value of the specific variable. Now, we will go through the steps of completing the square in general to solve a quadratic equation for x.
    • 4.4: Solve Applications Modeled by Quadratic Equations
      We solved some applications that are modeled by quadratic equations earlier, when the only method we had to solve them was factoring. Now that we have more methods to solve quadratic equations, we will take another look at applications. To get us started, we will copy our usual Problem Solving Strategy here so we can follow the steps.


    4: Quadratic Equations is shared under a CC BY-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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