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For example ,

$$5x^2 - 7x-2=0$$

Then, we only need to find is when $$5x^2-7x=2$$ $$x(5x-7)=2$$ Since that when we get $2-2=0$.

Is there any way we can find them easily without solving quadratics using formula?

I am just getting very enthusiastic in this topic.

Blue
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    Complete the square is a way – Claude Leibovici Jan 02 '21 at 09:50
  • There is another way, but I'm not sure why people rave about it. – J.G. Jan 02 '21 at 09:57
  • You may see the latest about a quadratic equation: https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/3955267/getting-back-to-the-quadratic-equation-again – Z Ahmed Jan 02 '21 at 09:58
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    @J.G. I see no reason to rave about it. That's the standard quadratic formula, except the arithmetic calculations contained in $\frac{-b}{2a}\pm\sqrt{\left(\frac{-b}{2a}\right)^2-\frac ca}$ are broken down into three steps. – Arthur Jan 02 '21 at 10:22
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    "Then , we only need to find is when $5x^2-7x=2.$" Yes, "only". The easiest way to do that, especially in general, is to go back to the original equation and use the quadratic formula. You may be lucky and find some $x$ that makes one factor into 1 and the other factor 2, but that's only possible if you're lucky. – Arthur Jan 02 '21 at 10:29
  • The by far easiest way is to use Sridhara, see https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/49229/why-can-all-quadratic-equations-be-solved-by-the-quadratic-formula/49243#49243. Hence start with $100x^2-140x=40\iff 100x^2-140x+7^2=40+49\iff(10x-7)^2=89$. Now take the square root. – Michael Hoppe Jan 02 '21 at 15:23

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Unfortunately, your strategy does not help that much because it is very difficult to solve $$ x(5x-7)=2 $$ without simply returning to the original equation. This is because there is a $2$ on the RHS. The reason we want to be able to write a quadratic in the form $$ (x-p)(x-q)=0 $$ is so that we can exploit the zero-product property: if $a \times b=0$, then $a=0$ or $b=0$. Once we have written an equation in the form $(x-p)(x-q)=0$, we can still instantly deduce that $x=p$ or $x=q$. This is something we can't do when we have something like $$ x(5x-7)=2 \, . $$


Instead, I would suggest dividing through by $5$, which yields $$ x^2 - \frac{7}{5}x - \frac{2}{5} = 0 \, . $$ Then, add $2/5$ to both sides: $$ x^2 - \frac{7}{5}x = \frac{2}{5} \, \tag{*}\label{*} . $$ The LHS is almost a perfect square. Note that $$ \left(x-\frac{7}{10}\right)^2=x^2-\frac{7}{5}x+\frac{49}{100} \, . $$ If we subtract $49/100$ from this equation, we get $$ \left(x-\frac{7}{10}\right)^2-\frac{49}{100}=x^2-\frac{7}{5}x \, . $$ Hence, the equation $\eqref{*}$ can be rewritten as $$ \left(x-\frac{7}{10}\right)^2-\frac{49}{100}=\frac{2}{5} \, . $$ Add $49/100$ to both sides: $$ \left(x-\frac{7}{10}\right)^2 = \frac{2}{5}+\frac{49}{100} = \frac{89}{100} \, . $$ Take the square root of both sides: $$ x-\frac{7}{10} = \pm\sqrt{\frac{89}{100}} \, . $$ Add $7/10$ to both sides: $$ x = \frac{7}{10} \pm \sqrt{\frac{89}{100}} \, , $$ and we are done. This method of solving quadratics is known as completing the square. Unlike factorisation, it can be used to solve any quadratic. In fact, the quadratic formula comes from completing the square on the general quadratic equation $$ ax^2 + bx + c = 0 \, . $$ Please let me know if you have any questions.

Joe
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    "easily without solving quadratics using formula ?" Yes, deriving the quadratic formula explicitly is certainly an easy way that avoids using the quadratic formula. – Arthur Jan 02 '21 at 10:31
  • @Arthur Deriving the quadratic formula by completing the square on $ax^2 + bx + c = 0$ is in my experience much more difficult for people to follow compared to completing the square on one particular quadratic. – Joe Jan 02 '21 at 10:35
  • But it's not easier than using the quadratic formula. And it's very debatable whether you can claim that you avoid it. – Arthur Jan 02 '21 at 10:46
  • TBH it depends on the equations. I mean will you seriously use the quadratic formula for solving $x^2+x-2$? It is obvious that the roots are $1, -2$ here. – sato Jan 02 '21 at 11:18
  • @Arthur I agree that it's not easier than using the quadratic formula. However, unless the student feels confident deriving the quadratic formula, I would prefer they use a method where they understand how it works. Of course, the quadratic formula is just completing the square. I'm not denying that. But this fact is non-obvious to someone who is actually studying quadratics. – Joe Jan 02 '21 at 11:19
  • @Mastermind817 Yes, I would suggest factorisation should be your first port of call. – Joe Jan 02 '21 at 11:21
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All ways of solving quadratic equations are essentially the same, but here's another tack:

You can "depress" the quadratic $ax^2+bx+c$ using the substitution $x=y - b/2a$. This substitution makes the linear term disappear. Then it's easy to solve for $y$ and then plug that answer into the substitution and recover $x$.

For your example: $ 5x^2-7x-2 =0$, let $x = y - \frac{-7}{2\cdot 5} = y+\frac{7}{10}.$ The equation becomes

$$5\left(y+\frac{7}{10}\right)^2 -7\left(y+\frac{7}{10}\right) -2=0$$

which simplifies to

$$5y^2 -\frac{89}{20}=0.$$

Solve for $y$ (which is easy because there's no linear term):

$$y^2=\frac{89}{100}$$

$$y = \pm \frac{\sqrt{89}}{10}.$$

Which means

$$x = \pm \frac{\sqrt{89}}{10} +\frac{7}{10}.$$

So all the steps are easy and obvious as long as you remember the substitution $x = y-b/2a.$

  • +1 Thanks so much for this brilliantly simple method! I've never known it before. – A-Level Student Jan 05 '21 at 10:54
  • @A-LevelStudent You might be interested in the general method for solving cubic equations, then. You get rid of the $x^2$ term in $ax^3+bx^2+cx+d = 0$ by substituting $x=t-\frac{b}{3a}$. – Joe Jan 05 '21 at 17:18
  • @Joe thanks, I already knew that one, I just hadn't considered applying a similar method to quadratics. – A-Level Student Jan 05 '21 at 17:41
  • @A-LevelStudent I hadn't either, but come to think of it, it is quite an intuitive method. Notice how the vertex of a parabola is at $x=-b/(2a)$. So let $t=x+b/(2a)$. This means that when $x=-\frac{b}{2a}$, $t$ is equal to $0$. This means that the graph of the quadratic in $t$ has the vertex at $t=0$. – Joe Jan 05 '21 at 18:12
  • @Joe right, thanks for the insight. – A-Level Student Jan 05 '21 at 18:13
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Factoring the equation in the form of $(x-\alpha)(x-\beta)$ is the best way for quadratic equations if the coefficients are reasonably small (not always as in your case because the signs are different). But sometimes (if $\alpha, \beta$ turn out to have an imaginary component or the coefficients are large integers or fractions) the quadratic formula would have to be used. $$x = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}$$ In your case, the quadratic formula would have to be used (or completing the square as @Joe said).


If you want to calculate 'intuitively', there is another method. Note that if $\alpha$ and $\beta$ are the roots of a quadratic of the form $ax^2+bx+c$ ; $a \in \mathbb R - \{0\}$, then $$\alpha + \beta = \frac{-b}{a}$$ and $$\alpha \beta = \frac{c}{a}$$ This can work for equations like $x^2-50x+525$ where $\alpha + \beta = -(-50) = 15+35$ and $\alpha \beta = 525 = 15*35$.

Thus it comes to mind that the roots must be $15$ and $35$ (comparing $LHS$ and $RHS$ due to which the $(x-\alpha)(x-\beta)$ would be $(x-15)(x-35)$.

You need to practice such questions extensively to know which method is more efficient in which equation.

sato
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