Solving by Square Roots
No First-Degree Term
If the quadratic has no linear, or first-degree term (i.e. b = 0), then it can be solved by isolating the x2 and taking square roots of both sides:
- You need both the
positive and negative roots because
, so x could be either positive or negative. - This is only going to give a real solution if either a or c is negative (but not both)
