Algebra Examples

$2 x^{2} + 5 x - 1 = 0$

Step 1

Add $1$ to both sides of the equation.

$2 x^{2} + 5 x = 1$

Step 2

Divide each term in $2 x^{2} + 5 x = 1$ by $2$ and simplify.

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Step 2.1

Divide each term in $2 x^{2} + 5 x = 1$ by $2$ .

$\frac{2 x^{2}}{2} + \frac{5 x}{2} = \frac{1}{2}$

Step 2.2

Simplify the left side.

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Step 2.2.1

Cancel the common factor of $2$ .

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Step 2.2.1.1

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{2 x^{2}}{2} + \frac{5 x}{2} = \frac{1}{2}$

Step 2.2.1.2

Divide $x^{2}$ by $1$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{5 x}{2} = \frac{1}{2}$

Step 3

To create a trinomial square on the left side of the equation, find a value that is equal to the square of half of $b$ .

${(\frac{b}{2})}^{2} = {(\frac{5}{4})}^{2}$

Step 4

Add the term to each side of the equation.

$x^{2} + \frac{5 x}{2} + {(\frac{5}{4})}^{2} = \frac{1}{2} + {(\frac{5}{4})}^{2}$

Step 5

Simplify the equation.

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Step 5.1

Simplify the left side.

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Step 5.1.1

Simplify each term.

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Step 5.1.1.1

Apply the product rule to $\frac{5}{4}$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{5 x}{2} + \frac{5^{2}}{4^{2}} = \frac{1}{2} + {(\frac{5}{4})}^{2}$

Step 5.1.1.2

Raise $5$ to the power of $2$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{5 x}{2} + \frac{25}{4^{2}} = \frac{1}{2} + {(\frac{5}{4})}^{2}$

Step 5.1.1.3

Raise $4$ to the power of $2$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{5 x}{2} + \frac{25}{16} = \frac{1}{2} + {(\frac{5}{4})}^{2}$

Step 5.2

Simplify the right side.

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Step 5.2.1

Simplify $\frac{1}{2} + {(\frac{5}{4})}^{2}$ .

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Step 5.2.1.1

Simplify each term.

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Step 5.2.1.1.1

Apply the product rule to $\frac{5}{4}$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{5 x}{2} + \frac{25}{16} = \frac{1}{2} + \frac{5^{2}}{4^{2}}$

Step 5.2.1.1.2

Raise $5$ to the power of $2$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{5 x}{2} + \frac{25}{16} = \frac{1}{2} + \frac{25}{4^{2}}$

Step 5.2.1.1.3

Raise $4$ to the power of $2$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{5 x}{2} + \frac{25}{16} = \frac{1}{2} + \frac{25}{16}$

Step 5.2.1.2

To write $\frac{1}{2}$ as a fraction with a common denominator, multiply by $\frac{8}{8}$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{5 x}{2} + \frac{25}{16} = \frac{1}{2} \cdot \frac{8}{8} + \frac{25}{16}$

Step 5.2.1.3

Write each expression with a common denominator of $16$ , by multiplying each by an appropriate factor of $1$ .

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Step 5.2.1.3.1

Multiply $\frac{1}{2}$ by $\frac{8}{8}$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{5 x}{2} + \frac{25}{16} = \frac{8}{2 \cdot 8} + \frac{25}{16}$

Step 5.2.1.3.2

Multiply $2$ by $8$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{5 x}{2} + \frac{25}{16} = \frac{8}{16} + \frac{25}{16}$

Step 5.2.1.4

Combine the numerators over the common denominator.

$x^{2} + \frac{5 x}{2} + \frac{25}{16} = \frac{8 + 25}{16}$

Step 5.2.1.5

Add $8$ and $25$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{5 x}{2} + \frac{25}{16} = \frac{33}{16}$

Step 6

Factor the perfect trinomial square into ${(x + \frac{5}{4})}^{2}$ .

${(x + \frac{5}{4})}^{2} = \frac{33}{16}$

Step 7

Solve the equation for $x$ .

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Step 7.1

Take the specified root of both sides of the equation to eliminate the exponent on the left side.

$x + \frac{5}{4} = \pm \sqrt{\frac{33}{16}}$

Step 7.2

Simplify $\pm \sqrt{\frac{33}{16}}$ .

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Step 7.2.1

Rewrite $\sqrt{\frac{33}{16}}$ as $\frac{\sqrt{33}}{\sqrt{16}}$ .

$x + \frac{5}{4} = \pm \frac{\sqrt{33}}{\sqrt{16}}$

Step 7.2.2

Simplify the denominator.

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Step 7.2.2.1

Rewrite $16$ as $4^{2}$ .

$x + \frac{5}{4} = \pm \frac{\sqrt{33}}{\sqrt{4^{2}}}$

Step 7.2.2.2

Pull terms out from under the radical, assuming positive real numbers.

$x + \frac{5}{4} = \pm \frac{\sqrt{33}}{4}$

Step 7.3

Subtract $\frac{5}{4}$ from both sides of the equation.

$x = \pm \frac{\sqrt{33}}{4} - \frac{5}{4}$

Step 8

The result can be shown in multiple forms.

Exact Form:

$x = \pm \frac{\sqrt{33}}{4} - \frac{5}{4}$

Decimal Form:

$x = 0.18614066 \dots, - 2.68614066 \dots$