Confirmation in my solution to finding these roots

  • Thread starter Thread starter subopolois
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Roots
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Ask a follow-up in this thread, or start your own.
1 reply · 2K views
subopolois
Messages
81
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement


find the roots of:
3x^2 − 4x + 2 = 0

Homework Equations


quadratic equation


The Attempt at a Solution


4+/- sqrt16-24/6

4+/-sqrt-8/6

4+/- isqrt4 sqrt2

4+/-2isqrt2/6
simplify a bit

x= 2-2sqrt2i
x= 2+2sqrt2i

does this seem right?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
When you're typing mathematical expressions on a single line, you need to use parentheses to group things appropriately.

For your equation, 3x^2 -4x + 2 = 0 (a quadratic equation), you can use the quadratic formula:
x = (-b [tex]\pm[/tex] [tex]\sqrt{b^2 - 4*a*c}[/tex])/(2*a).

Without the LaTeX coding, this can be written as

x = (-b +/- sqrt(b^2 - 4ac))/(2a)

What you have in your first line after applying the quadratic formula is this:
4+/- sqrt16-24/6

If you had used parentheses, you would have had a better chance of getting the right answer. How about giving them a try?