Need practice examples for Quad

equations at end
 HNC Building Services Engineering
AM1S40 Engineering Mathematics 1

Session 5
Linear and Quadratic
Equations
 Today’s content

• Review last week

• Linear equations
• Simultaneous linear equations
• Quadratic equations
 Last Week’s Session
• Algebraic fractions
• Transposition of simple formulae and equation
 Algebraic Fractions
• Simplify by cancelling (dividing both top and
bottom) factors that are common to the
numerator and denominator.
• But be careful to ensure it is a factor of all
elements on top and bottom before
cancelling.
𝑥2+ 4
• E.g. 𝑥 is not a common factor in
2𝑥
 Algebraic Fractions
• We use the same approach with algebraic
fractions.
2𝑥
• E.g. with 𝑥 will divide into the top and the
3𝑥
2
bottom, so we can divide by 𝑥, giving
3
• We sometimes call this process cancelling and
can show it by crossing out equal factors on the
top and bottom, e.g.
𝑥 2 + 2𝑥 𝑥 + 2
=
3𝑥 3
 Multiplication and Division

𝑎 𝑐 𝑎×𝑐
× =
𝑏 𝑑 𝑏×𝑑

𝑎 𝑐 𝑎 𝑑 𝑎×𝑑
And ÷ = × =
𝑏 𝑑 𝑏 𝑐 𝑏×𝑐
 Adding and Subtracting
• To be able to add one fraction to another, or
subtract one from another, we must make the
denominators (bottom) of both fractions the
same.
𝑎 𝑐 𝑎𝑑 + 𝑏𝑐
+ =
𝑏 𝑑 𝑏𝑑

𝑎 𝑐 𝑎𝑑 − 𝑏𝑐
− =
𝑏 𝑑 𝑏𝑑
 Transposition
• Transposing equations is a key skill and if it
does not come naturally to you, you need to
practice.
• There are tricks that can help, such as putting
the elements into a triangle
V
I R
• It can also help to break it down into steps,
moving one element at a time
 Transposition
• When transposing, at each step we must make
sure we do exactly the same thing to both
sides of the equation.
• We can:
– Add or subtract the same quantity to both sides
– Multiply or divide both sides by the same quantity
– Take the same function (e.g. square root,
reciprocal) of both sides
 Tutorial Sheet 3
• Review any difficulties with later questions on
sheet (fractions, formulae and equations)
 Today’s content

• Review last week

• Linear equations
• Simultaneous linear equations
• Quadratic equations
 Linear Equations
2𝑥 + 1 = 9
is an example of a linear equation, which is an
equation where no variable is raised to a power.
• To solve a linear equation, we simplify and
transpose it in order to make the unknown
variable the subject.
• In the example above, it could be changed to:
9−1
𝑥= which leads to 𝑥 = 4
2
 Practice
a) 6𝑏 − 5 = 10 + 𝑏
b) 4𝑥 + 2𝑥 + 13 = 4𝑥 + 12 − 4
c) 5 4 − 𝑥 − 3 4𝑥 − 5 = 52
And a challenge:
𝑥 2𝑥−1 7𝑥
d) + =
4 5 12
 Today’s content

• Review last week

• Linear equations
• Simultaneous linear equations
• Quadratic equations
Simultaneous Linear Equations
• If we have two unknowns in an equation we
cannot solve it to find unique values of the
unknowns that make the equation true.
• For example:
3𝑥 + 4𝑦 = 11
11
Would be true if 𝑥 = 0 and 𝑦 = , or if 𝑥 = 1
4
and 𝑦 = 2, or any other pairs of values of 𝑥 and
𝑦.
Simultaneous Linear Equations
• If we have two different equations, each with
the same two unknowns in them, we can
solve them together to find unique values of 𝑥
and 𝑦 that make both equations true.
• Example:
3𝑥 + 4𝑦 = 11 (1)
2𝑥 + 3𝑦 = 8 (2)
are both true only when 𝑥 = 1 and 𝑦 = 2
 Simultaneous Linear Equations
• There are two main methods of solving
simultaneous linear equations: substitution
and elimination.
• In most cases, elimination is easier, so we look
at that first.
 Elimination
3𝑥 + 4𝑦 = 11 (1)
2𝑥 + 3𝑦 = 8 (2)
• Choose one of the variables and look at its
coefficients in the two equations.
• Then multiply the first equation by the coefficient
from the second equation (2) and the second
equation by the coefficient from the first
equation (3):
6𝑥 + 8𝑦 = 22 (1)
6𝑥 + 9𝑦 = 24 (2)
• One of the variables will now have the same
coefficient in both equations
 Elimination
6𝑥 + 8𝑦 = 22 (1)
6𝑥 + 9𝑦 = 24 (2)
• Subtracting one equation from the other will now eliminate
one of the variables.
• In this case it will be easiest to subtract (1) from (2), so
6𝑥 − 6𝑥 + 9𝑦 − 8𝑦 = 24 − 22
• Giving 𝑦 = 2
• We can then substitute this vale of 𝑦 into either of the
original equations to find 𝑥
2𝑥 + (3 × 2) = 8
2𝑥 = 8 − 6 = 2
𝑥=1
• So the solution to the pair of equations is 𝑥 = 1 and 𝑦 = 2
 Practice
a) 2𝑥 + 3𝑦 = 7 (1)
and 5𝑥 + 2𝑦 = 1 (2)

b) 2𝑎 + 3𝑏 = 65 (1)
and 𝑎 + 4𝑏 = 70 (2)
 Substitution
• In this method, we rearrange one of the
equations to make one variable the subject.
• So in equation (1) of our example
3𝑥 + 4𝑦 = 11
11−4𝑦
becomes 𝑥 =
3
• We then substitute this into the second
11−4𝑦
equation (2), replacing 𝑥 with
3
 Substitution
So 2𝑥 + 3𝑦 = 8 becomes:
11 − 4𝑦
2 + 3𝑦 = 8
3
Which we can then solve as a linear equation with
a single variable (𝑦)
22−8𝑦
+ 3y = 8
3
[Multiply by 3] 22 − 8𝑦 + 9𝑦 = 24
𝑦 = 24 − 22 = 2
Then we substitute to find 𝑥 = 1
 Practice
Try solving the equations again, but by using the
substitution method

a) 2𝑥 + 3𝑦 = 7 (1)
and 5𝑥 + 2𝑦 = 1 (2)

b) 2𝑎 + 3𝑏 = 65 (1)
and 𝑎 + 4𝑏 = 70 (2)
 Today’s content

• Review last week

• Linear equations
• Simultaneous linear equations
• Quadratic equations
 Quadratic Equations
• Quadratic equations are equations where the
highest power to which the variable is raised is 2.
• The general form is:
𝑎𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐 = 0
• 𝑎 and 𝑏 are known as coefficients and 𝑐 is the
constant.
• There are two main ways of solving these
equations: factorisation and by using a formula
 Quadratic Equations
• We have already done some factorisation, so we
will start with that method.
𝑥 2 + 7𝑥 + 10 = 0
We factorised the left had side of this last week and
got (𝑥 + 5)(𝑥 + 2), so we can use these factors in
the equation
𝑥+5 𝑥+2 =0
If the result of multiplying the brackets together is
zero, then the contents of one or the other bracket
must be zero, so
𝑥 + 5 = 0 or 𝑥 + 2 = 0
So 𝑥 = −5 or 𝑥 = −2
 Practice
• Solve these equations by factorisation:

a) 𝑥 2 + 4𝑥 − 12 = 0

b) 𝑥 2 − 6𝑥 + 9 = 0
 Quadratic Formula
• If we have a quadratic equation of the form
𝑎𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐 = 0, then we can find the
solutions by using the formula:

−𝑏 ± 𝑏 2 − 4𝑎𝑐
𝑥=
2𝑎

• We will try it with

𝑥 2 + 4𝑥 − 12 = 0
 Quadratic Formula
• 𝑥 2 + 4𝑥 − 12 = 0, so 𝑎 = 1, 𝑏 = 4 and 𝑐 = −12.
−𝑏± 𝑏2 −4𝑎𝑐
• We substitute these values into 𝑥 =
2𝑎
−4± 4 2 −(4×1×(−12)) −4± 16+48
Giving 𝑥 = =
2×1 2
−4± 64 −4±8
𝑥= = = −2 ± 4
2 2

So, 𝑥 = −2 + 4 = 2
or 𝑥 = −2 − 4 = −6
 Practice
• Solve the following equations by using the quadratic
formula
−𝑏 ± 𝑏2 − 4𝑎𝑐
𝑥=
2𝑎

a) 6𝑥 2 + 𝑥 − 2 = 0

b) 3𝑥 2 − 4𝑥 − 5 = 0

If you finish quickly, substitute your answers back in and

check that the left hand side does =0
You can also try to solve a) by factorisation
 Review
• Linear equations
• Simultaneous linear equations
• Elimination method
• Substitution method

• Quadratic equations
• Factorisation method
• Formula method
 Next week

• Logaritms
• Exponential function
• Natural logarithms