Solve x^2 + x/2 =5

Although this may look more complicated than normal, this is just a normal qudratic equation. First by rearranging the equation we can get it into a simpler form, and then we can go about solving it. The first thing to remember is whatever operation you apply to one side of the equation, you must do to the other! So first of all, we can multiply the whole equation by 2 to get simplify the x/2 term. The equation becomes: 2x^2 +x=10 Now we can subtract 10 from both sides, to bring all of the terms to one side. The equation becomes: 2x^2 +x -10=0 This is now much nicer to work with! Now to solve the equation, we can use two methods. We can either use the quadratic formula (whereby we plug all of the coefficients into the equation to find the roots) or we can factorise it. Luckily this equation factorises nicely into: (x-2)(2x+5)=0 Since one of the brackets must equal 0, this gives the solutions: x=-5/2 or x=2

HJ
Answered by Hannah J. Maths tutor

5526 Views

See similar Maths GCSE tutors

Related Maths GCSE answers

All answers ▸

Solve the simultaneous equations 2x - 3y = 7 and 3x + 4y = 2. Do not use trail and improvement.


​What's the difference between the mean, median and mode? Why are there so many different types of average?!


Make y the subject of the formula: p = √x+y/5


Solve the simultaneous equations 2x + y = 18 and x - y = 6


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2025 by IXL Learning