SOLUTION: Can someone please help me with solving this problem? Thank you. Find the x-intercepts. y = x^2 � 7x � 2

Question 90108: Can someone please help me with solving this problem? Thank you.
Find the x-intercepts.
y = x^2 � 7x � 2

Answer by jim_thompson5910(35256) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
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=-7, and c=-2

Negate -7 to get 7

Square -7 to get 49 (note: remember when you square -7, you must square the negative as well. This is because .)

Multiply to get

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

Simplify the square root (note: If you need help with simplifying the square root, check out this solver)

Multiply 2 and 1 to get 2

So now the expression breaks down into two parts

or

Now break up the fraction

or

Simplify

or

So these expressions approximate to

or

So our solutions are:
or

Notice when we graph , we get:

when we use the root finder feature on a calculator, we find that and .So this verifies our answer
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