Graphing complex solutions to quadratics

Have you ever wondered if anything can be said graphically about the complex
solutions to a quadratic equation ax² + bx + c = 0 with no real solutions? Do the
location of those complex roots have any connection to the graph of
y = ax2 + bx + c ?

Prerequisite: This essay assumes familiarity with complex numbers. Read
chapter 22 of THINKING MATHEMATICS!, Volume 2.

Download full essay (pdf):
Graphing complex solutions to quadratics

  • ON-LINE SHORT COURSES!

    QUADRATICS, Permutations and Combinations, EXPLODING DOTS, and more!

    Written for educators - and their students too! - this website, slowly growing, takes all the content Tanton has developed in his books, videos, and workshops, and organizes it into short, self-contained, and complete, curriculum units proving that mathematics, at all points of the school curriculum, can be joyous, fresh, innovative, rich, deep-thinking, and devoid of any rote doing! Let's teach generations of students to be self-reliant thinkers, willing to flail and to use their common sense to "nut their way" through challenges, to assess and judge results, and to adjust actions to find success. (Great life skills!)

    CHECK OUT: www.gdaymath.com

  • Books

  • Get in touch