How do you find the roots, real and imaginary, of y=x2x2 using the quadratic formula?

1 Answer
Sep 2, 2016

The roots are rational (i.e. real) and are 2 and 1.

Explanation:

The quadratic formula gives the roots of the general form of quadratic equation ax2+bx+c=0 as x=b±b24ac2a.

The roots of a quadratic equation thus critically depend on the discriminant b24ac.

In y=x2x2, the discriminant is

(1)24×1×(2)

= 1+8=9

As it is a complete square one can easily take square root and roots of equation will be rational (i.e. real).

The roots are

(1)±(1)24×1×(2)2 or

1±92=1±32

i.e. 2 and 1