SOLUTION: please please help me! i know the quadratic formula, but what i dont understand is what do you do if there is no 'b' for the quadratic formula? for example: normal formula: ax2

Question 612240: please please help me! i know the quadratic formula, but what i dont understand is what do you do if there is no 'b' for the quadratic formula? for example:
normal formula:
ax2+bx+c
question
4p2-36=0
Answer by bucky(2189) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
If you are trying to solve a standard quadratic equation of the form:
.

.
and you notice that there is no term containing x, then you can use the quadratic formula if you just set b equal to zero. For the example problem you gave:
.

.
by comparing this to the standard quadratic equation, you can see that a = 4, b = 0, and c = -36. Then by the quadratic formula you can say that:
.

.
and substituting the values we identified for a, b, and c we get:
.

.
Notice that there is no "b" term before the radical in the numerator. Also there is no b^2 term in the radical. So the numerator is just the radical which is preceded by a + and - sign, and the radical contains just the product -4 times 4 times -36. And the denominator is 2*4 which is 8. So the answer is:
.

.
Doing the multiplication within the radical results in :
.

.
The square root of 576 is 24, so the answer becomes:
.

.
And dividing it out results in:
.

.
And don't forget the + and - signs to give you p = +3 and -3.
.
But there is even an easier way to do this example problem ... with fewer chances for error because there are less manipulations. Start with the problem as given:
.

.
Notice that you can divide both sides (all terms) by 4 to get:
.

.
Then get rid of the -9 on the left side by adding +9 to both sides as shown:
.

.
Then take the square root of both sides to get the answers:
.
and
.
Hope this helps you to understand the problem a little better.
.
RELATED QUESTIONS
Please Help. I have a textbook and it takes me through the steps on what I need to do,... (answered by Fombitz)

I know that the fomula x= -b/2a is used to solve for the minimum/maximum value of a... (answered by jim_thompson5910,robertb)

Please, i need your help to understand how to solve the measurement of the hypotenuse. I... (answered by jim_thompson5910)

I am studying for my chapter 1 test but there is this question i dont understand, i know... (answered by Alan3354)

If you could please help me on the steps when using the quadratic equation? I can... (answered by Fombitz)

i don't understand some of the quadratic equation steps, like: * when to use the two... (answered by stanbon,richwmiller)

can you help me with this simple question i dont understand this find the slope and y... (answered by rfer)

okay are there any steps to solving a proof? i understand that you first write down the... (answered by vleith)

I dont no if this is a Geometric Formula but this is my first time taking geomatry and... (answered by stanbon)