How do you find the roots, real and imaginary, of y=-5x^2 +40x -34 y=5x2+40x34 using the quadratic formula?

1 Answer
Jan 26, 2016

4+-sqrt(9.2)4±9.2

Explanation:

The quadratic formula is

(-b+-sqrt(b^2-4*a*c))/(2*a)b±b24ac2a

with a=-5, b=40 and c=-34 for this particular equation

(-40+-sqrt(40^2-4*(-5)(-34)))/(2*(-5))40±4024(5)(34)2(5), which gives:

(-40+-sqrt(1600-680))/(-10)40±160068010,

(-40+-sqrt(920))/(-10)40±92010,

(40+-sqrt(920))/(10)40±92010,

As 920 is not a perfect square, you can symplify the expression in several ways

(40+-sqrt(4*230))/(10)=(20+-sqrt(230))/(5)=4+-sqrt(9.2)40±423010=20±2305=4±9.2