SOLUTION: I am supposed to find the x intercept but am confused. Any help is appreciated. y=x^2+x-6 Thanks

Question 88775: I am supposed to find the x intercept but am confused. Any help is appreciated.
y=x^2+x-6
Thanks
Answer by jim_thompson5910(35256) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
To find the x-intercept, set y equal to zero

Now let's use the quadratic formula to solve for x:

Starting with the general quadratic

the general solution using the quadratic equation is:

So lets solve ( notice , , and )

Plug in a=1, b=1, and c=-6

Square 1 to get 1

Multiply to get

Combine like terms in the radicand (everything under the square root)

Simplify the square root

Multiply 2 and 1 to get 2

So now the expression breaks down into two parts

or

Lets look at the first part:

Add the terms in the numerator
Divide

So one answer is

Now lets look at the second part:

Subtract the terms in the numerator
Divide

So another answer is

So our solutions are:
or

Notice when we graph , we get:

and we can see that the roots are and . This verifies our answer
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