Question

The discriminant of a quadratic equation is equal to -8, which statement describes the roots?

• There are two complex roots.
O There are two real roots.
• There IS one real root.
O There IS one complex root.

Answer 1

(a) There are two complex roots

Explanation:

The discriminant of a quadratic function describes the nature of its roots:

• negative: two complex roots
• zero: one real root (multiplicity 2)
• positive: two distinct real roots.

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Your discriminant of -8 is negative, so it indicates ...

There are two complex roots

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Additional comment

We generally study polynomials with real coefficients. These will never have an odd number of complex roots. Their complex roots always come in conjugate pairs.