Scott Cunningham

Mathematics

21 May, 21:32

Two of the steps in the derivation of the quadratic formula are shown below.

Step 6: StartFraction b squared minus 4 a c Over 4 a squared EndFraction = (x + StartFraction b Over 2 a EndFraction) squared

Step 7: StartFraction plus or minus StartRoot b squared minus 4 a c EndRoot Over 1 a EndFraction = x + StartFraction b Over 2 a EndFraction

Which operation is performed in the derivation of the quadratic formula moving from Step 6 to Step 7?

subtracting StartFraction b Over 2 a EndFraction from both sides of the equation

squaring both sides of the equation

taking the square root of both sides of the equation

taking the square root of the discriminant