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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.)
To convert the standard form to factored form, one needs only the quadratic formula to determine the two roots r 1 and r 2. To convert the standard form to vertex form, one needs a process called completing the square. To convert the factored form (or vertex form) to standard form, one needs to multiply, expand and/or distribute the factors.
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 ...
A closely related notion with geometric overtones is a quadratic space, which is a pair (V, q), with V a vector space over a field K, and q : V → K a quadratic form on V. See § Definitions below for the definition of a quadratic form on a vector space.
In general, a quadratic equation can be expressed in the form + + =, [42] where a is not zero (if it were zero, then the equation would not be quadratic but linear). Because of this a quadratic equation must contain the term a x 2 {\displaystyle ax^{2}} , which is known as the quadratic term.
When m is a root of this equation, the right-hand side of equation is the square (). However, this induces a division by zero if m = 0. This implies q = 0, and thus that the depressed equation is bi-quadratic, and may be solved by an easier method (see above). This was not a problem at the time of Ferrari, when one solved only explicitly given ...
The quadratic formula =. is a closed form of the solutions to the general quadratic equation + + =. More generally, in the context of polynomial equations, a closed form of a solution is a solution in radicals; that is, a closed-form expression for which the allowed functions are only n th-roots and field operations (+,,, /).