Does completing the square always work?

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Does completing the square always work?

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Answer 1 · 2015-11-30T01:00:31

In order to use the Completing the Square method, the value for $a$ in the quadratic equation must be $1$ . If it is not $1$ , you will have to use the AC method or the quadratic formula in order to solve for $x$ .

Explanation:

Completing the square is a method used to solve a quadratic equation, $ax^2+bx+c$ , where $a$ must be $1$ . The goal is to force a perfect square trinomial on one side and then solving for $x$ by taking the square root of both sides.

The method is explained at the following website:

http://www.regentsprep.org/regents/math/algtrig/ate12/completesqlesson.htm

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Does completing the square always work?

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