GCSE: Solving Quadratic

Equations
Dr J Frost ([email protected])

Last modified: 2nd June 2015

Overview
There are 4 ways in which we can solve quadratic equations.
2
2 −5 −3=0

𝑥
𝑥
1 By Factorising Go To Slides 2 By using the Quadratic Formula >
>> >

?  ?

3 By ‘Completing the Square’ > 4 Approximating by using a Graph >

> >

 ? ?

1 3
−
2
Recap of Factorisation
Factorise the following expressions:

x2 + 9x – 10 (x + 10)(x?– 1)
9x2 – 4x x(9x – 4)
1 – 25y2 (1 + 5y)(1?–Yes: 5y)
it was a sneaky
trick question. Deal
2x2 + 5x – 12 (2x – 3)(x +with4)it.

x3 – 2x2 + 3x – 6 (x2 + 3)(x – 2)

?

?
Solving (quadratic) equations
But now we’re moving on...

Quadratic Expressio
Equation
n
x2 – 5x + 6 = 0

Click to Move On
Starter

× = 0

If two things multiply to give 0, what do you know?

At least one of those things must be
?
0.
Solving Equations

Therefore, how could we make this equation

( + 3)( − 2) = 0
true?

𝑥
𝑥
= −?3 or = 2?
𝑥
𝑥
Why do you think the ‘or’ is important?
While both values satisfy the equation, 
can’t be both values at ? the same time, so we
wouldn’t use the word ‘and’.
This will be clearer when we cover
Quickfire Questions
Solving the following.
(x – 1)(x + 2) = 0 x = 1 or x?= -2
x(x – 6) = 0 x = 0 or x = 6
(6 – x)(5 + x) = 0 x = 6 or x?= -5
(2x + 1)(x – 3) = 0 x = -0.5 or x = 3
(3x – 2)(5x + 1) = 0 x = 2/3 or x = -1/5
(1 – 4x)(3x + 2) = 0 x = 1/4 or? x = -2/3

?
Bro Tip: To get the solution quickly in
your head, negate the sign you see, and
make the constant term the numerator.
Exercise 1
Solving the following equations.

1 x(x – 3) = 0 x = 0 or x = 3 ?
2 x(x + 2) = 0 x = 0 or x = -2?
(x + 7)(x – 9) = 0 x = -7 or x = 9
x = -2/7 or x =? 4
3
(7x + 2)(x – 4) = 0
4
(9 – 2x)(10x – 7) = 0 x = 9/2 or x =?7/10
5 x(5 – x)(5 + 2x) = 0 x = 0 or x = 5 ?or x = -5/2
6 x2(x + 3) = 0 x = 0 or x = -3?
x(2x – 5)(x + 1)2 = 0 x = 0 or x = 5/2 or x = -1
7
x cos(x) = 0 ? 270, 450, ...
x = 0 or x = 90,
8
cos(2x + 10) = 0 ? 310, ...
x = 40, 130, 220,
☠ ?
☠ ?
Solving non-factorised equations
We’ve seen that solving equations is not too difficult when we have it in the form:
[factorised expression] = 0

Solve 
x2 + 2x – 15 = 0 Put in?form [expression] = 0
(x + 5)(x – 3) = 0 Factorise
x = -5 or x = 3
In pairs...
In pairs, discuss what solutions there are to the following equation.


?
x –x=0
3

x(x2 – 1) = 0
x(x + 1)(x – 1) = 0
x = 0 or x = -1
or x = 1
You may have been tempted at the start to
divide both sides by  to get . But this loses
the  solution.
NEVER DIVIDE AN EQUATION BY
A VARIABLE UNLESS YOU KNOW
IT IS NOT 0!
Final example
Solve the following.


Method 1 Method 2
? both
Square root ?
Factorise.
sides. x2 – 4 = 0
x = ±2 (x + 2)(x – 2) = 0
x = ±2
Exercise 2
Solve the following equations.

1 x2 + 7x + 12 = 0 x = -3 or x = -4
?
x = -3 or x = 2
1 16x2 – 1 = 0 ?
x = ± 1/4
x = -7 or x = 2
x2 + x – 6 = 0 4 x2 + 5x = 14 ?
x = -5 or x = 3/2
2
x2 + 10x + 21 = 0 x = -1 ?
x = -7 or x = -3 1
5 2x2 + 7x = 15 x = -1 or x = 5
3
x2 + 2x + 1 = 0 ?
x = 0 or x = 3 1
2x2 = 8x + 10
?
x = 1/4 or x = 7
y = 7 or y = 8
x = 0 or x = -7 6
4
x2 – 3x = 0 ?
x = 0 or x = 1 1
4x2 + 7 = 29x ?
x = -9 or x = 7
7 x = -4 or x = 2/3
5 x2 + 7x = 0
x = -7 or x = 7
?
x = 0 or x = 4
1 y2 + 56 = 15y ?
x = 1 or x = 2
8
6 2x2 – 2x = 0 ?
x = -1/2 or x = 3/5
y = 1/2 or y = 5/6
1 63 – 2y = y2 x = ±1 ?
x = ±1 or ± 2
9
7 x2 – 49 = 0 z = ±8 ? 2 8 = 3x2 + 10x x = -1
x = ±2
?
4x = x2 x = ±2 0 x6 = 9x3 – 8 ?
8
10x2 – x – 3 = 0 ? 2
1 x4 = 5x2 – 4
9
12y2 – 16y + 5 = 0 ? ☠
x3 = x 2 + x – 1
?
1
64 – z2 = 0 ? ☠ x3 + 1 = – x – x 2 ?
0
1 2x2 = 8 ? ☠ x4 + 2x3 = 8x + 16 ?
1
1 ? ☠ ?
2
1 ? ☠ ?
3
Harder Equations
Sometimes it’s a little trickier to manipulate quadratic (and some other) equations to
solve, but the strategy is always the same: get into the form [something] = 0 then
factorise (you may need to expand first).

2x(x – 1) = (x+1) – 5 2

2x2 – 2x2 = x2 ?
+ 2x + 1 – 5
x2 – 4x + 4 = 0
(x – 2)(x – 2) = 0
x=2
Test Your Understanding

Solve (x – 4)2 = x + 8
x = 1 or x = ? 8

A* GCSE
Question Alert!

5(2x + 1)2 = (5x – ?

1)(4x + 5)
5(4x2 + 4x + 1) = 20x2 + 25x – 4x – 5
20x2 + 20x + 5 = 20x2 + 21x – 5
x = 10
(It turned out this simplified to a
linear equation!)
Exercise 3
Solve the following equations. ☠
Determine x
1 x(x + 10) = -21
6x(x+1) = 5 – x
?
x = -3 or x = -7
x = -5/3 or x = 1/2
2
(2x+3)2 = -2(2x + 3) ?
x = -5/2 or x = - 3x - 1
3 (x + 1)2 – 10 = 2x(x – 2)
3/2
x=3
? x
4 (2x – 1)2 = (x – 1)2 + 8 ?
x = 2 or x = -4/3
5 3x(x + 2) – x(x – 2) + 6 = 0
6
?
x = -1 or x = -3
x = 2 or x = 15
x+1
 ?
x = ±1/4
 x = -1/2 or x = 3/5
7

?
 or  = 7 x =?8/7
8
 

?
9  ? ☠

1 ? For what n is the nth term
of the sequence 21, 26,
0 35, 48, 65, ... and the
1
1
? sequence 60, 140, 220,
300, 380, ... the same?
☠
1
? 2n2 – n + 20 = 80n
– 20 ?
n = 40 (you can’t
have the 0.5th
term!)
Geometric Algebraic Problems

?
2x2 + 27x – 26x – 351 = 0 (by splitting middle term)
x(2x + 27) – 13(2x + 27) = 0
(x – 13)(2x + 27) = 0
x = 13
Geometric Algebraic Problems

?2 c2
First triangle: a2 + b2 = (1)
Second triangle: (a+1) + (b+1)2 = (c+1)2
➔ a2 + 2a + 1 + b2 + 2b + 1 = c2 + 2c + 1
(2)
Using (1) to substitute c2 with a2 + b2 in (2):
c2 + 2a + 2b + 2 = c2 + 2c + 1
2a + 2b + 1 = 2c

The LHS of the equation must be odd since 2a and 2b are

both even.
?
Exercises
Determine x Determine the length Determine x
1 3 of the hypotenuse. 5
2x - 1
x x+4 4x + 2
x 2x Area =
96
x+1
x+2 x+
1
Answer: x=
? x
Answer:
? x=
Answer: ?
5
=3 6
2 4 ☠
[Maclaurin] An arithmetic
3x - 4 x x+ sequence is one in which the
difference between
1 successive terms remains
Area = x-4 constant (for example, 4, 7,
5 10, 13, …). Suppose that a
28 x right-angled triangle has the
property that the lengths of
its sides form an arithmetic
Determine x 4 + sequence. Prove that the
Given the two
x sides of the triangle are in
Answer: x = 6
? triangles have the
2
same area, determine
the ratio 3:4:5.
Solution: Making
x.
?
sides x – a, x and x +
?
Answer: x = 2 a, we obtain x = 4a
by Pythagoras. Thus
sides are 3a, 4a, 5a
which are in desired
ratio.
Test Your Topic Understanding
…of solving by
factorising.

1 Solve  by factorising.

 ?

2 Determine the side .


?
𝐴
2 +3 
𝑥
2 +2 
𝑥


𝐶
𝐵

𝑥
#2 Solving by using the Quadratic Formula
Try to solve the following by factorising. What problem do you
encounter?

?
There are no two integers numbers which add to give 2 and
multiply to give -5. We therefore can’t factorise.
We can use something called the Quadratic Formula
to find solutions to quadratic equations (whether or not
they factorise).
The Quadratic Formula

Bro Tip #1: Notice that we need 0 on the

RHS.
✏ If 
Then:
 ?

Solve  giving your answers to 3 significant figures.


 ? Bro Tip #2: You know you won’t be able to
factorise if a GCSE question ends with “to 3sf” or “to
 2dp”.

? Bro Tip #3: Explictly write out ,  and  to avoid
making errors when you substitute into the formula.

Don’t be intimidated by the : calculate your

? value with  and then with .

Bro Tip #4: Use brackets around the  part: this

? will reduce the chance you make a sign error.
Test Your Understanding

✏ If 
Then:


? ? ? ?
? ? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ? ?
?? ? ? ?
Exercises
1 Solve the following, giving your answers as 2 Solve the following. Use exact
(a) exact answers (involving surds) and values.
(b) to 3 significant figures. 
?
Example: ?
x2 + x – 1 Exact: 
Decimal: x = -1.62 or x = ?
0.62
x2 + 3x + 1 = 0  or  3 The sides of a rectangle are  and . Its
x2 – 6x + 2 = 0 x = 0.354 or x = 5.65 area is 40. Determine .
x2 + x – 5 = 0 x = -2.79 or x = 1.79 
2y2 + 5y – 1 = 0 x = -2.69 or x = 0.186
x(2x + 3) = 4 x = -2.35 or x = 0.851
☠ Find the exact value of 
4(1–3x) = 2x(x+3) x = -9.22 or x = 0.217 
1
y(5y+1) = 4(3y+2) y = -0.576 or y = 2.78
 

Two circles are drawn in a rectangle of

6 by 4, such that the larger circle
touches three sides of the rectangle,
whereas the smaller one only touches
2. Determine the radius of the smaller
circle.

Check Your Understanding
Q Solve 2x2 – 7x – 3 = 0, giving your answer to 3 significant figures.
a = 2, b = -7, c = -3

What kind of mistakes do you think might be easy to

make?
1.
? as well. i.e. Using -7 in the
If b is negative, then putting –b as negative
fraction instead of 7.
2. When squaring a negative value of b, putting the result as negative.i.e.
Using -49 in the fraction instead of 49.
3. When doing the -4ac bet, subtracting instead of adding when one of a or c
is negative.i.e. Using -24 in the fraction instead of +24.
#3 Solving by Completing the Square

Before we solve equations by completing the square, we’ll learn how to

complete the square with a quadratic expression.

What the devil is ‘completing the square’?

?
2
+ + ( + __)2 + __
𝑎
𝑥
𝑏
𝑥
𝑐
𝑎
𝑥
It means putting a quadratic expressions in the form
on the right, i.e. where  only appears once.

What’s the point?

It has four uses, the first two of which?we will explore:

1. Solving quadratic equations (including deriving the quadratic

formula!).
2. Sketching quadratic equations.

3. Helps us to ‘integrate’ certain expressions (an A Level topic!)

4. Helps us do something called ‘Laplace Transforms’ (a university topic!)
#3 Solving by Completing the Square

Before we solve equations by completing the square, we’ll learn how to

complete the square with a quadratic expression.

What the devil is ‘completing the square’?

?
2
+ + ( + __)2 + __
𝑎
𝑥
𝑏
𝑥
𝑐
𝑎
𝑥
It means putting a quadratic expressions in the form
on the right, i.e. where  only appears once.

What’s the point?

It has four uses, the first two of which?we will explore:

1. Solving quadratic equations (including deriving the quadratic

formula!).
2. Sketching quadratic equations.

3. Helps us to ‘integrate’ certain expressions (an A Level topic!)

4. Helps us do something called ‘Laplace Transforms’ (a university topic!)
Starter

Expand the
following:

( + 3)2 = 2
+ 6 +?9
𝑥
𝑥
𝑥
( + 5) + 1 =
2 2
+ 10 ?+ 26
𝑥
𝑥
𝑥
( − 3)2 = 2
− 6 +?9
𝑥
𝑥
𝑥
( + )2 = 2
+2 +? 2
𝑥
𝑎
𝑥
𝑎
𝑥
𝑎
What do you notice about the coefficient of the 
term in each case?
Completing the square

Typical GCSE question:

“Express  in the form , where  and  are constants.”


 ?

Halve whatever number is

on , and write 

We square this 3 and then ‘throw it away’ (so that the 

cancels with the  in the expansion of .
Completing the square
More examples:
 ?
 ?
 ?
 ?
 ?
 ?

 
Exercises
Express the following in the form 
2
+2 + 1 = ( + )2 − 2
+1
 ? ?

𝑥
𝑎
𝑥
𝑥
𝑎
𝑎
1 ☠
2  ? 2

( )
3 2

☠ 2
+3 = + ? −
9
?

𝑥
𝑎
𝑏
𝑥
𝑥
3 2 4

𝑎
𝑏
𝑎
𝑏

4

?
5

?
6
 ?
7
 ?
 ?
8


9 ?

1
?
0

So far the coefficient of the  term has been 1. What if it isn’t?
Express  in the form 

 Just factorise out the coefficient of the  term.

Now we have an expression just like before for
? which we can complete the square!

?
Now expand out the outer brackets.

?
Express  in the form 

 ? Bro Tip: Reorder the terms so you always

? start with something in the form 

? Bro Tip: Be jolly careful with your signs!

Bro Tip: You were technically done on the

? previous line, but it’s nice to reorder the
? terms so it’s more explicitly in the requested
form.
Test Your Understanding

Express the following in the form :


 ?
 ?
 ?
 ?
 ?
?
Exercises

Put in the form  or 

1  ?
2  ?
3  ?

4 ?

 ?
5

6 ?
7 ?

2

?
+ +
𝑎
𝑥
𝑏
𝑥
𝑐
☠
Uses of Completing The Square

1. Sketching Parabolas
You can find this in the ‘Sketching Quadratic Equations’
slides.
Completing the square allows us to find the minimum or maximum point of a
curve, and is especially useful for sketching when the quadratic has no ‘roots’.

2. Solving Quadratics


Complete the square on LHS.
?
Move lone constant to other side.
?
? Now make  the subject.
Bro Tip: Don’t forget the  !
?
Solving by Completing the Square
Possible GCSE question

a) Put the expression  in the form .

b) Hence find the exact solutions to .
 ?

Bro Tip: Be careful to observe how the

question asks you to give your solution.
If it says exact solution, then you have to
use surds, because any decimal form would
be a rounded value.
Test Your Understanding
Complete the square to find exact solutions to…

 
 
? ?

Bro Tip: Notice that when we have an equation

rather than an expression, we can just divide by 6 rather
than having to factorise out the 6 (because )
Exercises
Solve the following by completing the square, giving your answers to
3sf.


1

?
2

?
3  ?
4  ?
5  ?
6  (giving your answer in terms of  and ). ?

☠ By forming an appropriate equation and completing the square, show that
1
the value of the infinite expression  is the?Golden Ratio, i.e. .
Let . Then . Then 


☠
2

Make  the subject of 

? ☠
3

?
Summary So Far…
Solve the equation  by:
# Factorising
1

?

# Using the Quadratic Formula

2

?

# Completing the Square

3
 ?
Proof of the Quadratic Formula!
by completing the
square…

?
?

?
?

?
?
#4 Solving Quadratics by using a Graph - Preview
Edexcel Nov 2011 NonCalc
a) Use the graph to find
estimates for the solutions of
i. Accept  to ,  to .

?
Recall that we can find the solutions to two ii.
simultaneous equations by drawing the two
lines, and finding the points of intersection.

?
b) Use the graph to find
estimates for the solutions of the
simultaneous equations:


Since  and we want , we’re

looking where . ?
Bro Tip: Remember that the easiest way to sketch lines like  is to
just pick two sensible values of  (e.g. 0 and 4), and see what  is for
each. Then join up the two points with a line.
#4 Solving Quadratics by using a Graph - Preview

We’ll come back to this topic in

‘Sketching Graphs’.