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In basic mathematics, a quadratic equation with a negative discriminant has no solutions. However, at a more advanced level you will learn that it has two solutions which form a complex conjugate pair.
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If the discriminant is negative the graph of a quadratic function will cross or touch the x-axis time s?
If the discriminant is negative, the equation has no real solution - in the graph, the parabola won't cross the x-axis.
What is a discriminant and how does help to solve equations?
In the quadratic formula, the discriminant is b2-4ac. If the discriminant is positive, the equation has two real solutions. If it equals zero, the equation has one real solution. If the discriminant is negative, it has two imaginary solutions. This is because you find the square root of the discriminant and add or subtract it from -b and divide the sum or difference by 2a. If the square root is of a positive number, then you get two different solutions, one from adding the discriminant to -b and one from subtracting the discriminant from -b. If the square root is of zero, then it equals zero, and the solution is -b/2a. If the square root is of a negative number, then you have two imaginary solutions because you can't take the square root of a negative number and get a real number. One solution is from subtracting the discriminant from -b and dividing by 2a, and the other is from adding it to -b and dividing by 2a. The parabola on the left has a positive discriminant. The parabola in the middle has a discriminant of zero. The parabola on the right has a negative discriminant.
What type of equation is b2-4ac?
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What are the three outcomes of a discriminant?
The discriminant can be positive, zero or negative.
How can you have one solution in something that is quadratic?
b^2 - 4ac, the discriminant will tell you that a quadratic equation may have one real solution( discriminant = 0 ) , two real solutions( discriminant > 0 ), or no real solutions( discriminant < 0 ).
