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Jan 122014
 

In the last exercise you learnt how to factorise quadratic expressions. We will now use this in order to solve simple quadratic equations.

Suppose x²+9x +20 = 0

If we factorise we get (x+4) (x+5) = 0

In other words, two numbers multiply together to make 0. This means one of those numbers must be 0!

So we know EITHER x+4 = 0 OR x+5 = 0

If x +4 = 0 x = -4

If x+5 =0 then x=-5

So the solution is x = -4 or -5

Remember quadratic equations will nearly always have 2 solutions.

Try this- you will probably need pencil and paper to factorise the equations first.