Week 6 – Using Square Roots to Solve Quadratic Equations

This week I learned how to solve quadratic equations using square roots.

Here is a common question:

This question asked me to solve the equation by completing the square. The first thing you need to do in this question is make it a square. You figure out the square by chopping the middle term in half \frac{5}{2} then square it \frac{25}{4}. You add \frac{25}{4} into the equation by making it a zero pair. Then you can solve for x by simplifying the part of the equation that is in brackets to (x+5/2)^{2} and add together the part not in brackets to get \frac{-37}{4}. After you have done this you move \frac{37}{4} to the other side of the equation and square root the whole thing. Then you can move \frac{5}{2} to the other side. Once you have done this you have simplified for x.