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Quadratic function

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A quadratic graph that has two real answers.
A quadratic graph with two real answers and no complex answers. Other quadratic graph have no real answers and 2 complex answers.

In algebra, a Quadratic function is a function that contains an expression where its degree (the highest exponent it has) is 2, which means that it is quadratic (See etymology). Its single-variable standard form isː

Where , and are all constants and ≠ 0.

When such a function gets plotted on a graph where , a curve that extends infinitely called a parabola will appear.

When a quadratic function is set equal to zero, then it turns into a quadratic equation. The answers to the equation are where the function crosses the -axis.

Etymology

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The word quadratic comes from the Latin word quadrātum ("square"). This is because of the presence of a number (which is in the standard form) that is the result of squaring its square root ().