ABSTRACT

At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

• define a quadratic equation • solve quadratic equations by factorisation • solve quadratic equations by ‘completing the square’ • solve quadratic equations involving practical situations • solve linear and quadratic equations simultaneously

As stated in Chapter 11, an equation is a statement that two quantities are equal and to ‘solve an equation’ means ‘to find the value of the unknown’. The value of the unknown is called the root of the equation. A quadratic equation is one in which the highest power of the unknown quantity is 2. For example, x2 − 3x + 1 = 0 is a quadratic equation.