It will cross the x-axis twice.
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No, it will be entirely above the x-axis if the coefficient of x2 > 0, or entirely below if the coeff is <0.
It will touch it at exactly 1 point. If a quadratic function is given as f(x) = ax2 + bx + c, let the discriminant be denoted as D. Then the graph of y = f(x) will cross the x-axis at the x-values x = (-b + sqrt(D))/(2a) and x = (-b - sqrt(D))/(2a). When the discriminant D = 0, these 2 x-values are actually the same. Thus the graph will touch the x-axis only once.
Two.
When the graph of a quadratic crosses the x-axis twice it means that the quadratic has two real roots. If the graph touches the x-axis at one point the quadratic has 1 repeated root. If the graph does not touch nor cross the x-axis, then the quadratic has no real roots, but it does have 2 complex roots.
The discriminant is the expression under the square root of the quadratic formula.For a quadratic equation: f(x) = ax2 + bx + c = 0, can be solved by the quadratic formula:x = (-b +- sqrt(b2 - 4ac)) / (2a).So if you graph y = f(x) = ax2 + bx + c, then the values of x that solve [ f(x)=0 ] will yield y = 0. The discriminant (b2 - 4ac) will tell you something about the graph.(b2 - 4ac) > 0 : The square root will be a real number and the root of the equation will be two distinct real numbers, so the graph will cross the x-axis at two different points.(b2 - 4ac) = 0 : The square root will be zero and the roots of the equation will be a real number double root, so the graph will touch the x-axis at only one points.(b2 - 4ac) < 0 : The square root will be imaginary, and the roots of the equation will be two complex numbers, so the graph will not touch the x-axis.So by looking at the graph, you can tell if the discriminant is positive, negative, or zero.