Back in unit 3 we learned what a discriminat is. A discriminat is “a function of the coefficients of a polynomial equation whose value gives information about the roots of the polynomial.” It helps us determine how many times the quadratic equation will hit the X axis. If the discriminant is positive there will be 2 roots (the parabola hits X twice), if the discriminant is equal to 0 there will be one root (hits X once), and if the discriminant is negative it will have no real roots (not touch the X axis).
Ex. 