Summary: Today we learned several new vocabulary words.
- Perfect Square – A number whose square root is a whole number
(example: 4, 9, 36) - Perfect Square*– A number whose square root is a rational number (0.5, 3/4, 1.5)
- Rational Number – A number that can be expressed as a fraction
(example: 3, 4/5, 1.8) - Irrational Number – A number that cannot be expressed as a fraction. It is a number that is a decimal that goes on forever with no pattern.
(example: π, √2, √5)
We also learned how to find the discriminant which can be found using the formula b2-4ac.
The discriminant can tell you some important things about your quadratic (degree 2) equation.
If the Discriminant is…
- A Perfect Square*, then the solutions to the equation are rational numbers.
Which means that the polynomial is factorable. - Not a Perfect Square*, then the solutions to the equation are irrational numbers.
Which means that the polynomial is not factorable
Homework: HW10
