Texas Instruments Voyage 200, User Manual

Page: 739 / 1008

Activities 739
Deriving the Quadratic Formula
Deriving the Quadratic Formula Deriving the Quadratic Formula
Deriving the Quadratic Formula
This activity shows you how to derive the quadratic formula:
x =
4. Use the
zeros( )
function to compute the
zeros of the first derivative of
c(w)
to find
the minimum value of
c(w)
.
Note:
The maximum length of the pole is
the minimum value of
c(w)
.
5. Compute the exact maximum length of
the pole.
Enter:
c
(
2 ±
)
6. Compute the approximate maximum
length of the pole.
Result: Approximately 20.8097 feet.
Note:
Use the auto-paste feature to copy
the result from step 4 to the entry line
inside the parentheses of c( ) and press
8 ¸
.
b – b
2
4 ac –
±
2 a
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