How do you solve y=-2(x+5)^2-2?

1 Answer
Jun 27, 2015

y=-2(x+5)^2-2 is a continuous function with an infinite number of (x,y) pairs which could be considered solutions.
There is no "solution".

Explanation:

graph{-2(x+5)^2-2 [-14, 6, -9.08, 0.92]}

We could find the solutions for a couple of points that are often of interest.

The equation itself is in the "vertex form" and we can read the coordinates of the vertex directly from the equation: (-5,-2)

The line represented by this equation does not touch the x-axis,
so there is no x-intercept.

However, we can determine the coordinates of the y-intercept by setting x=0 in the equation and solving for y
y = -2(0+5)^2-2 = -52
So the y-intercept occurs at (0,-52)