Roots of Quadratics
How are the roots of a quadratic linked to its coefficients?
- Because a quadratic equation (where ) has roots and , you can write this equation instead in the form
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- Note that
- It is possible that the roots are repeated, i.e. that
- You can then equate the two forms:
- Then (because ) you can divide both sides of that by a and expand the brackets:
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- Finally, compare the coefficients
- Coefficients of x:
- Constant terms:
- Finally, compare the coefficients
- Therefore for a quadratic equation :
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- The sum of the roots is equal to
- The product of the roots is equal to
- Unless an exam question specifically asks you to prove these results, you can always use them without proof to answer questions about quadratics
Related Roots
- You may be asked to consider two quadratic equations, with the roots of the second quadratic linked to the roots of the first quadratic in some way
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- You are usually required to find the sum or product of the roots of the second equation
- The strategy is to use identities which contain and (where and are the roots of the first quadratic)
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- If you know the values of and from the first quadratic, you can use them to help find the sum or product of the new roots
- If the second quadratic has roots and , then use the identities:
- or
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- If the second quadratic has roots and , then use the identities:
- If the second quadratic has roots and , then use the identities:
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- If the second quadratic has roots and , then use the identities:
- If the second quadratic has roots and , then use the identities:
- You can then form a new equation for a quadratic with the new roots
- This is done by recalling that a quadratic with a given pair of roots can be written in the form x2 – (sum of the roots)x + (product of the roots) = 0
- Be aware that this will not give a unique answer
- This is because multiplying an entire quadratic by a constant does not change its roots
- You can use this fact, for example, to find a quadratic that has a particular pair of roots AND has all integer coefficients
- See the worked example below for an example of how to do some of this!
Worked example
The roots of an equation are and .
a)
Find integer values of a, b, and c.
b)
Hence find a quadratic equation whose roots are and .