To complete the square make sure all the variable terms are on one side of the equation. Then, divide both sides of the equation by a so the coefficient of x^2 is 1.
x=1± 2sqrt(2)
Practice makes perfect
We want to solve the quadratic equation by completing the square.To do so, we will start by rewriting the equation so all terms with x are on one side of the equation.
- 4x^2+8x+44=16 ⇔ - 4x^2+8x=- 28
Now let's divide each side by - 4 so the coefficient of x^2 will be 1.
- 4x^2+8x=- 28
⇓
x^2-2x=7
In a quadratic expression b is the linear coefficient. For the equation above, we have that b=- 2. Let's now calculate ( b2 )^2.
