Factoring to Solve Quadratic Equations

Topics for Today:

All of the work we have done on factoring has led to today's topic of solving quadratic equations by factoring.  We talked about the zero-product property (when multiplying, if one factor is zero, then the equation equals zero), and how we use it to find our solutions (also called roots or zeroes). 

An example of an equation that requires several steps to solve is included here:

Vocabulary:  zero-product property

Sections Covered in Textbook:

10-5: Factoring to Solve Quadratic Equations (pages 536-540)

Resources & Tutorials:

1) What is the zero-product property?

2) How do you use the zero product property to find solutions to an equation?

3) How do you solve a quadratic equation by factoring?

Solving Quadratic Equations

Topics for Today:

Solving quadratic equations was the topic of the day.  We solved these equations by graphing and by using algebra.  For quadratic equations, we have three possibilities for our solutions:  we may have two solutions, one solution, or no REAL solutions.  The rules of algebra still apply when solving numerically - whatever we do to one side of the equation, must also be done to the other side to keep the truth of the equals sign.  Students were also reminded that squaring and taking the square root are inverse operations. 

Sections Covered in Textbook:

10-4: Solving Quadratic Equations (pages 529-534)

Resources & Tutorials:

1)  How do you solve a quadratic equation with two solutions by graphing?

2)  How do you use the square root method to solve a quadratic equation with two solutions?