Two Days Until Spring Break (:

Hey there (:

I'm going to try and explain how you would solve an equation by completing the square . Wish me luck !

Lets say you have an equation such as

The first thing you would need to do is take the -5 and move it to the opposite side of the equation like soNow , you would need to get the x squared alone . How would you do this ? well see , you would simply divide both sides of the equation by the co-efficient that is in front of x . In this case , it would be 4.

You would have

But the x is still squared ! What would you do now you may be asking yourself . well see this is were your little friend square rooting comes in handy ! You would now have ...

Now all you have to do is simplify and you're finished ! Your final answer will be ...

With the +- in front of the answer (:

One more example would be

The first thing you would do is move the -3 to the opposite side of the equation like so

Next, you would take the b value which is the 6, and divide it by 2 and then square the answer .

Take the answer which in this case is 9 and add it to both sides of the equation .

Now, You need to Factor the left side and make the equation equal to zero .

Don't forget to bring the -12 over to the opposite side !

And square root each side of the equation as well .

You should now have

Lastly, move your -3to the opposite side of the equation giving you your final answer . Also don't forget the +- thing in front of the square root .

Hope That Helps (: