Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
In elementary algebra, completing the square is a technique for converting a quadratic polynomial of the form + + to the form + for some values of and . [1] In terms of a new quantity x − h {\displaystyle x-h} , this expression is a quadratic polynomial with no linear term.
To complete the square, form a squared binomial on the left-hand side of a quadratic equation, from which the solution can be found by taking the square root of both sides. The standard way to derive the quadratic formula is to apply the method of completing the square to the generic quadratic equation a x 2 + b x + c = 0 {\displaystyle ...
The process of completing the square makes use of the algebraic identity + + = (+), which represents a well-defined algorithm that can be used to solve any quadratic equation. [ 6 ] : 207 Starting with a quadratic equation in standard form, ax 2 + bx + c = 0
Completing_the_square.ogv (Ogg Theora video file, length 1 min 9 s, 640 × 480 pixels, 758 kbps, file size: 6.22 MB) This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons . Information from its description page there is shown below.
The central square has side b − a. The light gray region is the gnomon of area A = ab. The dark gray square (of side (b − a)/2) completes the gnomon to a square of side (b + a)/2. Adding (b − a)/2 to the horizontal dimension of the completed square and subtracting it from the vertical dimension produces the desired rectangle.
A typical use of this is the completing the square method for getting the quadratic formula. Another example is the factorization of x 4 + 1. {\displaystyle x^{4}+1.} If one introduces the non-real square root of –1 , commonly denoted i , then one has a difference of squares x 4 + 1 = ( x 2 + i ) ( x 2 − i ) . {\displaystyle x^{4}+1=(x^{2 ...
This is also an application of completing the square, allowing us to write a quadratic polyomial of three variables in which all terms have degree two, as the sum of three squares. (My inspiration was a multivariate calculus problem: Create a tranformation to map the ellipsoid x 2 + 4 x y + 8 y 2 + 4 y z + 6 z 2 − 2 x z = 9 , {\displaystyle x ...
Another geometric proof proceeds as follows: We start with the figure shown in the first diagram below, a large square with a smaller square removed from it. The side of the entire square is a, and the side of the small removed square is b. The area of the shaded region is . A cut is made, splitting the region into two rectangular pieces, as ...