How do you solve -10x^2 + 11x + 24 = 20 using the quadratic formula?

1 Answer
Aug 30, 2015

x_(1,2) = (11 +- sqrt(281))/20

Explanation:

For a general form quadratic equation

color(blue)(ax^2 + bx + c = 0)

you can use the quadratic formula to determine the roots of the equation

color(blue)(x_(1,2) = (-b +- sqrt(b^2 - 4ac))/(2a))

So, start by getting your equation into standard quadratic form. To do that, add -20 to both sides of the equation

-10x^2 + 11x + 24 - 20 = color(red)(cancel(color(black)(20))) - color(red)(cancel(color(black)(20)))

-10x^2 + 11x + 4 = 0

In your case, you have a = -10, b = 11, and c = 4, which means that the quadratic formula will look like this

x_(1,2) = (-11 +- sqrt(11^2 - 4 * (-10) * (4)))/(2 * (-10))

x_(1,2) = (-11 +- sqrt(281))/((-20)) = (11 +- sqrt(281))/20

The two roots of the quadratic equation will thus be

x_1 = (11 + sqrt(281))/(20)" " and " "x_2 = (11 - sqrt(281))/20