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2.2 Quadratic Functions

This document discusses quadratic functions and how to graph them. It examines the standard form of a quadratic function as f(x) = ax2 + bx + c. It explains that to graph a quadratic function, we need to complete the square to write it in vertex form. The vertex formula is introduced to find the vertex of a parabola when given a quadratic function in the form f(x) = ax2 + bx + c. The x-coordinate of the vertex is always -b/2a. Other important points are the zeroes, found by setting the function equal to 0, and the y-intercept.

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Mick Stukes
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45 views

2.2 Quadratic Functions

This document discusses quadratic functions and how to graph them. It examines the standard form of a quadratic function as f(x) = ax2 + bx + c. It explains that to graph a quadratic function, we need to complete the square to write it in vertex form. The vertex formula is introduced to find the vertex of a parabola when given a quadratic function in the form f(x) = ax2 + bx + c. The x-coordinate of the vertex is always -b/2a. Other important points are the zeroes, found by setting the function equal to 0, and the y-intercept.

Uploaded by

Mick Stukes
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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2.

2 Quadratic Functions
Now that we've dispatched Chapter 1, we're ready to move on to bigger and better things. The next beastie that we encounter is the quadratic function. Now we have seen the quadratic function before, but this time we're going to take a closer look, and use the techniques we learned in the past to get more out of the quadratic function.

Lets first examine the form of a quadratic function, it generally will look like this:

f(x) = ax 2 + bx + c

where a, b, and c are real numbers and a 0.

Now we'll look at how to graph a quadratic equation. Here's a little warning: we are going to need to complete the square.

g(x) = x 2 - 6x + 5 first we note the coefficients a = 1, b = -6, c = 5 g(x) = (x 2 - 6x + ) +5 now we need to plug in a number that makes the parentheses a product of binomials g(x) = (x 2 - 6x + 9 ) + 5 - 9 if I add nine in the parentheses, I have to subtract nine outside the parentheses g(x) = (x-3)2 - 4 this is a simple transformation of f(x) = x 2

2.2 Quadratic Functions Page 1

GRAPHING FUNCTIONS USING THE VERTEX FORMULA Sometimes we will not be faced with having to graph simple quadratic functions. For those more complicated cases, we're going to need some extra weapons in the fight against quadratics. This is where the vertex formula comes in. If we have a function:

f(x) = ax 2 + bx + c

The vertex of this parabola lies at the point: ( x, y) = (


-b 2a

f(
,

-b 2a

) )
-b

Which is to say that the x-coordinate of the vertex will always occur at

2a

So now the only other important points to use with the vertex formula are zeroes of the function and the y-intercept. These can be found by setting the function to zero, and inserting 0 into the equation.

We can also use the quadratic formula to find zeroes of a quadratic function.

-b +/- b 4ac 2a

2.2 Quadratic Functions Page 2

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