Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
In mathematics, a quadratic equation (from Latin quadratus 'square') is an equation that can be rearranged in standard form as [1] + + =, where the variable x represents an unknown number, and a, b, and c represent known numbers, where a ≠ 0. (If a = 0 and b ≠ 0 then the equation is linear, not quadratic.)
is a quadratic form in the variables x and y. The coefficients usually belong to a fixed field K, such as the real or complex numbers, and one speaks of a quadratic form over K. Over the reals, a quadratic form is said to be definite if it takes the value zero only when all its variables are simultaneously zero; otherwise it is isotropic.
Polynomials of degree one, two or three are respectively linear polynomials, quadratic polynomials and cubic polynomials. [8] For higher degrees, the specific names are not commonly used, although quartic polynomial (for degree four) and quintic polynomial (for degree five) are sometimes used. The names for the degrees may be applied to the ...
In mathematics, a quadratic function of a single variable is a function of the form [1] = + +,,where is its variable, and , , and are coefficients.The expression + + , especially when treated as an object in itself rather than as a function, is a quadratic polynomial, a polynomial of degree two.
A similar but more complicated method works for cubic equations, which have three resolvents and a quadratic equation (the "resolving polynomial") relating and , which one can solve by the quadratic equation, and similarly for a quartic equation (degree 4), whose resolving polynomial is a cubic, which can in turn be solved. [14]
Given a quadratic polynomial of the form + the numbers h and k may be interpreted as the Cartesian coordinates of the vertex (or stationary point) of the parabola. That is, h is the x -coordinate of the axis of symmetry (i.e. the axis of symmetry has equation x = h ), and k is the minimum value (or maximum value, if a < 0) of the quadratic ...
If the constant term is 0, then it will conventionally be omitted when the quadratic is written out. Any polynomial written in standard form has a unique constant term, which can be considered a coefficient of . In particular, the constant term will always be the lowest degree term of the polynomial. This also applies to multivariate polynomials.
The quadratic equation on a number can be solved using the well-known quadratic formula, which can be derived by completing the square. That formula always gives the roots of the quadratic equation, but the solutions are expressed in a form that often involves a quadratic irrational number, which is an algebraic fraction that can be evaluated ...