Quadratic Equations and Their Properties

You can use your notes or your textbook (Ch 8 and 9) or the internet to help you answer the following questions.

A degree is the biggest exponent in an equation. When a number is written in small print above and to the right of another number, it is an exponent. You can see in the illustration that the degree is 2.

Not all curves are parabolas. For example, the St. Louis arch is a "catenary curve" which looks like a parabola, but it is not! Oh well, nothing's perfect.

The quadratic formula can solve any quadratic equation for x.

Quadratic Formula

We are going to learn to graph quadradic functions and to solve quadratic equatiaons.

In order to graph quadratics, we need to write the factored form of a quadratic. If the quadratic doesn't factor nicely, then the solutions (where it crosses x) are decimals and we need the quadratic formula or completing the square to solve for x.