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Topic 54 · lesson 7 of 7

Solving By Completing The Square

Clear explanations and worked examples from the Math-Mate school maths textbook.

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Solving By Completing The Square

There is one more method for solving a quadratic equation.  Say I have a quadratic function:

                                                    Mathematical diagram

You can use a process known as completing the square to solve it. First you divide the whole equation through by the coefficient of the Mathematical diagram term (the coefficient is the number in front of the Mathematical diagram):

                                                      Mathematical diagram

Then you move the constant (c) term over to the other side – the constant term is the one that doesn’t have any ‘x’s in it.  Remember the sign change!

                                                         Mathematical diagram

Then, whatever the number in front of the x term is (in this case 6), divide it by 2 (giving 3), then square it (giving 9).  Whatever the number is, you always divide it by 2 than square it.  Add this result to both sides of the equation:

                                                      Mathematical diagram

Now factorise the left hand side using the method discussed previously (forget about the 17, just concentrate on the left hand side of the equation.

                                                    Mathematical diagram

Take the square root of both sides, and remember to put a plus or minus sign next to the Mathematical diagram to represent both possible solutions!

                                               Mathematical diagram

And there are your solutions for x which make the equation true.