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Solve the quadratic equation by completing the square. (Enter your answers as a comma-separated list.) \( x=\square \) \( +\quad+\quad x^{2}+4 x-1=0 \)

Ask by Garrett Rowe. in the United States
Mar 10,2025

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Answer

The solutions are \( x = \sqrt{5} - 2 \) and \( x = -\sqrt{5} - 2 \).

Solution

We start with the equation \[ x^2 + 4x - 1 = 0. \] 1. Move the constant term to the right-hand side: \[ x^2 + 4x = 1. \] 2. To complete the square, find half of the coefficient of \(x\), which is \(\frac{4}{2} = 2\). Square it to get \(2^2 = 4\). Add \(4\) to both sides: \[ x^2 + 4x + 4 = 1 + 4. \] 3. The left-hand side is now a perfect square trinomial: \[ (x + 2)^2 = 5. \] 4. Take the square root of both sides, remembering to include both the positive and negative roots: \[ x + 2 = \pm \sqrt{5}. \] 5. Solve for \(x\) by subtracting \(2\) from both sides: \[ x = -2 \pm \sqrt{5}. \] Thus, the solutions are: \[ \sqrt{5}-2,\quad -\sqrt{5}-2. \]

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To solve the quadratic equation \( x^2 + 4x - 1 = 0 \) by completing the square, we first move the constant to the other side: \( x^2 + 4x = 1 \) Next, we'll complete the square. We take half of the coefficient of \( x \), which is \( 4 \), divide by \( 2 \) to get \( 2 \), and then square it to get \( 4 \). We add \( 4 \) to both sides: \( x^2 + 4x + 4 = 1 + 4 \) This simplifies to: \( (x + 2)^2 = 5 \) Now, we take the square root of both sides: \( x + 2 = \pm \sqrt{5} \) Finally, we isolate \( x \): \( x = -2 + \sqrt{5}, -2 - \sqrt{5} \) So the solutions are: \( x = -2 + \sqrt{5}, -2 - \sqrt{5} \)

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