How do you find the zeros of y = -9/2x^2 + 3/2x – 3/2 using the quadratic formula?

1 Answer
Aug 8, 2017

The solutions of this equation are imaginary.

The roots of this equation are:

x=-1.07i, x=0.548i

Explanation:

The zeroes (solutions) occur when y=0, so we have −9/2x^2+3/2x–3/2=0.

Standard form for a quadratic equation is ax^2+bx+c=0, so in this case, a=-9/2, b=3/2 and c=-3/2.

The quadratic formula is x=(-b+-sqrt(b^2-4ac))/(2a)

Substituting in the values of a, b and c, we have:

x=(-3/2+-sqrt((3/2)^2-4xx(-9/2)xx(-3/2)))/(2(3/2))
=(-3/2+-sqrt((9/4-27)))/6

Since the total under the square root sign yields a negative number, there are no real roots of the equation, only imaginary roots.

sqrt(9/4-27)=4.97i where i=sqrt(-1).

That means the roots of this equation are:

x=-1.07i, x=0.548i