2

5. The Discriminant b 4 ac

You can predict which case will arise by calculating the value of the expression
2

under the square root sign, b 4 ac , and thinking about the effect that

this value has in the quadratic formula

2

x=

b b24 ac
.
2a

If b 4 ac

If b 4 ac >0 , the equation a x + bx+ c=0 will have two roots.

If b 4 ac <0 , there will be no roots..

If

is a perfect square, the roots will be integers or fractions.

b24 ac =0 , the roots are given by

x=

b 0 b
=
2a
2 a , and there is

one root only. Sometimes it is said that there are two coincident roots, or a

repeated root, because the root values

2

The expression b 4 ac

b+ 0
2a

and

b0
2a

are equal.

is called the discriminant of the quadratic expression

a x 2+ bx+ c , because, by its value, it discriminates between the types of

2
solution of the equation a x + bx+ c=0

Example 1:

What you can deduce from the values of the discriminants of the quadratics in the
following equations?
a)

2 x 23 x4=0

c)

2 x 24 x +5=0

b)

2 x 23 x5=0

d)

2 x 24 x +2=0

e) Answer:
a=2 ,

a) As

b=3

c=4 ,

and

b24 ac =(3 )2 4 2 (4 ) =9+32=41 .

f)The discriminant is positive, so the equation

2 x 23 x4=0

has two

roots. Also, as 41 is not a perfect square, the roots are irrational.

a=2 ,

b) As

b=3

and

c=5 ,

b24 ac =(3 )2 4 2 (5 )=9+ 40=49 .

g)

The discriminant is positive, so the equation

2 x 23 x5=0

has two roots. Also, as 41 is a perfect square, the roots are rational.
a=2 ,

c) As

b=4

b 4 ac =(4 ) 4 25=1640=24 .

and

c=5 ,

h)

The discriminant is negative, the equation

2 x 24 x +5=0

has

no roots.
a=2 ,

d) As

b=4

and

c=2 ,

b 4 ac =(4 ) 4 2 2=1616=0 .
i) As the discriminant is zero, the equation

2 x 24 x +2=0

has only one

(repeated) root.
j)
k) Example 2:
l) The equation

k x 2 x 7=0 has two real roots. What can you deduce

about the value of the constant k ?

m)

The discriminant is

(2 )2 4 k (7 )=4+ 28 k . As the

equation has two real roots, the value of the discriminant is positive, so

1
4 +8 k >0 , and k >
7 .
n)
o) Example 3:
p) The equation
k .

3 x2 +2 x+ k=0

has a repeated roots. Find the value of

q)

The equation has a repeated roots if

b24 ac =0 ; that is, if

1
2
2 4 3 k=0 . This gives k = 3 .
r)
s) Exercise!
1. Use the value of the discriminant

b 4 ac

to determine whether the

following equations have two roots, one root or no roots.

a)

x 23 x5=0

e)

2 x 27 x +3=0

b)

x +2 x +1=0

f)

5 x +9 x +4=0

c)

x 3 x+ 4=0

g)

3 x + 42 x +147=0

d)

3 x2 6 x+5=0

h)

37 x4 x 2=0

t)
2. The following equations have a repeated root. Find the value of
case. Leave your answers as integers, exact fractions or surds.
a)

k x 2+5 x8=0

b)

k x 2 p x +q=0

u)

in each