A quadratic equation contains only up to and including . There are many ways to solve quadratics. All quadratic equations can be written in the form where , and are numbers ( cannot be equal to 0, but and can be).

Here are some examples of quadratic equations.

• . This will expand to and
• . This will expand to and
• . This will rearrange to and
• . This will rearrange to . and (in this example , but has been rearranged to the other side of the equation)
• is an example of a quadratic equation that can be solved simply.

Divide both sides by 3

## Solving by factorising

If the of two numbers is zero then one or both of the numbers must also be equal to zero. Therefore if , then and/or .

If , then or , or both. Factorising quadratics will also be used to solve the equation.

Expanding the brackets gives , which simplifies to . is the reverse process of expanding brackets, so factorising gives .

### Example

Solve .

The product of and is 0, so or , or both.

or .

Question

Solve .

The product of and is 0, so or .

or

Question

Solve .