Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Roots of a quadratic equation with real coefficients

ax²+bx+c where a≠0, a,b,c Є R is a quadratic equation with real coefficients.

The quantity D = b²-4ac is the called the discriminant of the quadratic equation.

1. The roots are real and distinct if and only if D>0.
2. The roots are real and equal if and only D = 0
3. The roots are complex with non-zero imaginary part if and only if D<0.
4. The roots are rational iff a,b,c are rational and D is a proper square.
5. The roots are of the form p+√q (p,q Є Q), iff a,b,c are rational and D is not a perfrect square.
6. If a =1, b,c ЄI and the roots are rational numbers, then these roots must be integers.
7. If a quadratic equation in x has more than two roots, then it is an identity in x that is a=b=c=o.

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