Question

How do you find the roots, real and imaginary, of `y=x^2 - 5/2x + 1/2` using the quadratic formula?

Answer 1

`x=(5+-sqrt17)/4`

Explanation:

If an equation is `ax^2+bx+c=0`
Then `x=(-b+-sqrt(b^2-4ac))/(2a)`
To solve this equation
You can judge by this pattern `b^2-4ac`
So `25/4-4*1*1/2>0`
This result imply us exist 2 real roots you can find
Thus begin solving
`x=((5/2)+-sqrt(25/4-4*2*1/2))/2`
`x=(5+-sqrt17)/4`