52.2k views
5 votes
What is the sum of the roots of the quadratic $4x^2 - 4x - 4$?

User Kin Cheung
by
5.7k points

2 Answers

4 votes

Answer:

1/2

Explanation:

By Vieta's formulas, the sum of the roots of $ax^2 + bx + c$ is given by $\dfrac{-b}{a}$. For this quadratic, that value is

\[ \frac{-b}{a} = \frac{-(-4)}{4} = 1.\]

Since the sum of the roots is $1$, the average of the roots is $\boxed{\dfrac 1 2}$.

Alternately, we could factor $4$ out of every term of this quadratic, giving $4(x^2 - x - 1)$. Since $4 \cdot 0 = 0$, any number that is a root of $x^2 - x - 1$ will also be a root of $4(x^2 - x - 1)$. Thus, the problem can change to finding the sum of the roots of $x^2 - x - 1$.

Since the coefficient of the linear term is $-1$ and this is the opposite of the sum of the roots, we find that the sum of the roots is equal to $1$, and the average is $\boxed{\dfrac 1 2}$.

User Limc
by
6.0k points
5 votes

9514 1404 393

Answer:

1

Explanation:

The sum of roots of quadratic ax^2 +bx +c = 0 is -b/a. Here, that means the sum of roots is ...

-(-4)/4 = 1

The sum of the roots is 1.

What is the sum of the roots of the quadratic $4x^2 - 4x - 4$?-example-1
User Jemminger
by
5.6k points