Section A.3 Chapter 3 Quadratic Models
Subsection A.3.1 Extraction of Roots
Subsubsection A.3.1.1 Evaluate quadratic expressions
Example A.3.2.
Make a table of values for and graph the equation.
Checkpoint A.3.3.
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.4.
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.5.
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.6.
Make a table of values for and graph the equation.
Answer.
Subsubsection A.3.1.2 Use square roots
Example A.3.7.
Solve by extraction of roots.
Checkpoint A.3.8.
Answer.
Subsubsection A.3.1.3 Use geometric formulas
It may seem difficult to measure the inside of a round object like a sphere or a cone in cubic units, but you can imagine filling the object with liquid and then pouring the liquid into a box to measure its volume.

Example A.3.9.
A cone is 16 cm tall and its volume is 500 cm What is the radius of the base of the cone?
Solution.
Checkpoint A.3.10.
A cylindrical syringe holds 100 cc (cubic centimeters) of fluid. If the syringe is 10 centimeters long, what is its radius?
Answer.
1.78 cm
Example A.3.11.
The diameter of a spherical wax candle is 5 inches. What is the volume of wax in the candle?
Solution.
Checkpoint A.3.12.
Find the volume of a cylindrical water tank whose diameter is 20 feet and whose height is 20 feet.
Answer.
6283.2 cubic feet
Checkpoint A.3.13.
The diameter of the Earth is about 7920 miles. Find its volume.
Answer.
About 260,120,000,000 cubic miles
Subsubsection A.3.1.4 Use the Pythagorean theorem
Example A.3.14.
Find the unknown side in the right triangle.
Solution.
Example A.3.15.
A 25-foot ladder is placed against a wall so that its foot is 7 feet from the base of the wall. How far up the wall does the ladder reach?
Solution.
Checkpoint A.3.16.
A baseball diamond is a square whose sides are 90 feet long. Find the straight-line distance from home plate to second base.
- Make a sketch of the situation and label a right triangle.
- Write an equation and solve.
Answer.
- 127.28 ft
Checkpoint A.3.17.
How long a wire is needed to stretch from the top of a 40-foot telephone pole to a point on the ground 20 feet from the base of the pole?
- Make a sketch of the situation and label a right triangle.
- Write an equation and solve.
Answer.
- 44.72 ft
Subsection A.3.2 Intercepts, Solutions, and Factors
In this lesson we review the skills we need to solve quadratic equations by factoring.
Subsubsection A.3.2.1 Multiply binomials
Example A.3.18.
Expand the product
Solution.
Multiply each term of the first binomial be each term of the second binomial. This gives four multiplications, often denoted by "FOIL," which stands for First terms, Outside terms, Inside terms, and Last terms.
Example A.3.19.
Expand the product
Solution.
Checkpoint A.3.20.
Expand the product
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.21.
Expand the product
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.22.
Expand the product
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.23.
Expand the product
Answer.
Subsubsection A.3.2.2 Factor quadratic trinomials
To factor the trinomial we look for two numbers and whose product is the constant term and whose sum is the coefficient of the middle term.
Sign Patterns for Quadratic Trinomials.
-
If all the coefficients of the trinomial are positive, then both
and are positive. -
If the middle term of the trinomial is negative and the other two terms are positive, then
and are both negative. -
If the constant term of the trinomial is negative, then
and have opposite signs.
Example A.3.24.
Solution.
Example A.3.25.
Factor
Solution.
Example A.3.26.
Factor
Solution.
This time the product must be negative, so and must have opposite signs, one positive and one negative. There are only two ways to factor either times or times We just "guess" that the second factor is negative, and check for each possibility:
The middle term we want is not so we change the signs of and we use and The correct factorization is
Checkpoint A.3.27.
Factor
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.28.
Factor
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.29.
Factor
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.30.
Factor
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.31.
Factor
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.32.
Factor
Answer.
Subsubsection A.3.2.3 Write algebraic expressions
Example A.3.33.
Ralph and Wanda together weigh 320 pounds. If Ralph weighs pounds, how much does Wanda weigh?
Solution.
We subtract Ralph’s weight from the total; the remainder is Wanda’s weight: pounds
Example A.3.34.
Delbert and Francine live 24 miles apart on Route 30. They meet at a cafe between their houses. If Delbert drove miles, how far did Francine drive?
Solution.
We subtract Delbert’s distance from the total; the remainder is Francine’s distance: miles
Example A.3.35.
Three eggs and two slices of buttered toast contain 526 calories. If one egg contains calories, how many calories are in a slice of buttered toast?
Solution.
We subtract the calories in three eggs from the total; the remainder is the number of calories in two slices of toast, so one slice has half that many calories:
Example A.3.36.
The perimeter of a large rectangular playground is 124 yards. If its width is yards, what is its length?
Solution.
We subtract twice the length from the perimeter; the remainder is twice the width, so the width is half that: yards
Checkpoint A.3.37.
Garth and Taylor together made $86,000 last year. If Garth made dollars, how much did Taylor make?
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.38.
Six coffees and four pastries cost the office manager $21. If a pastry costs dollars, how much does a coffee cost?
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.39.
The vertex angle of an isosceles triangle is degrees. What is the measure of each of the two base angles?
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.40.
The perimeter of a rectangular swimming pool is 260 feet. If the length of the pool is feet, what is its width?
Answer.
Subsection A.3.3 Graphing Parabolas
Subsubsection A.3.3.1 Find the average of two numbers
Example A.3.41.
Example A.3.42.
Example A.3.43.
Checkpoint A.3.44.
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.45.
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.46.
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.47.
Answer.
Subsubsection A.3.3.2 Solve quadratic equations
Example A.3.48.
Solve
Solution.
Example A.3.49.
Solve
Solution.
Example A.3.50.
Solve
Checkpoint A.3.51.
Solve
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.52.
Solve
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.53.
Solve
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.54.
Solve
Answer.
Subsubsection A.3.3.3 Find the coordinates of points on a parabola
To find the -coordinate of a point on a parabola, we usually need to solve a quadratic equation.
Example A.3.55.
Example A.3.56.
Checkpoint A.3.57.
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.58.
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.59.
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.60.
Answer.
Subsection A.3.4 Completing the Square
Subsubsection A.3.4.1 Squares of binomials
Example A.3.61.
Solution.
- In the formula above, note that the coefficient of
is and the constant term is In this example, and so and - The coefficient of
is and the constant terms is so and
Checkpoint A.3.62.
Write as the square of a binomial.
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.63.
Write as the square of a binomial.
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.64.
Write as the square of a binomial.
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.65.
Write as the square of a binomial.
Answer.
To solve a quadratic equation by completing the square, we often have to work with fractions.
Subsubsection A.3.4.2 Multiply fractions
To multiply two fractions together, we multiply their numerators together, and multiply their denominators together. We can divide out any common factors in numerator and denominator before we multiply.
Example A.3.66.
Multiply
Example A.3.67.
Multiply
Checkpoint A.3.68.
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.69.
Answer.
Subsubsection A.3.4.3 Add fractions
To add or subtract unlike fractions.
- Find the LCD for the fractions.
- Build each fraction to an equivalent one with the LCD as its denominator.
- Add or subtract the numerators. Keep the same denominator.
Example A.3.70.
Solution.
-
Step1: Find the LCD. Factor each denominator.The LCD isStep2: Build each fraction to a denominator of 30. The building factor for the first fraction is
and for the second fraction.Step 3: Add the two like fractions, and reduce. -
Step1: The LCD is 9.Step 2: Build the whole number to a denominator of 9.Step 3: Add the two like fractions.
Checkpoint A.3.71.
Answer.
Checkpoint A.3.72.
Answer.
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