Question 541946
The question from my book says that "the radicand of the quadratic formula, b^2 - 4ac, can be used to determine whether {{{ ax^2 + bx + c = a}}} has solutions that are rational, irrational, or not real numbers." I haven't been able to solve the problem on this website because it's saying that the first coefficient is zero. It's also asking me to explain how this works. And if it possible to determine the kinds of answers that one will obtain to a quadratic equation without actually solving the equation.
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I think you mean {{{ ax^2 + bx + c = 0}}}, not = a
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The radicand is called the determinant.
It's b^2 - 4ac
If it's >0, you have 2 real answers.
If it's =0, you have the same real root twice.
If it's <0, you have 2 complex roots.