Experiment: Solution by the Quadratic Formula

Objective

  • The goal is to provide an environment in which students can visualize the relationship between the graph of the parabola and the value/sign of the discriminant (b2 - 4ac).

User´s Guide

  • Drag each slider to change the value of each corresponding coefficient.
Experiment: Solution by the Quadratic Formula
Suggested Experiments

  1. With the default setting, do you notice any relationship between the characteristics of the parabola and the value/sign of the discriminant?

  2. Change c so that the parabola crosses the x-axis at only one point. Do you notice any relationship between the characteristics of the parabola and the value/sign of the discriminant?

  3. Keep changing c until the parabola does not cross the x-axis at all. Does the quadratic formula still produce any valid numerical solutions?

 

This experiment is for demonstration purpose. Some numerical value(s) involved in the experiment is accurate only to the third decimal place.