Revision Quadratic Equations Challenging

Level 5-6

1. Solve the following quadratic equations:

5 6
a) - = -2
x + 2 x -1
4 3
b) + = -1
x +1 x + 3

2. Solve the following quadratic equations:

a) x 4 -13x 2 + 36x = 0
b) x + 3 = 4 x
c) x = 2 x + 3
d) 2x -1 = 3x

Note: There is a typo in question 2a, instead of x4 should be x3.

x 2 - 2x - 3 x 2 + 5x - 24
3.Find all x such that + = 13
x +1 x-3

10 22
4. Find all x such that + +4=0
x2 x

5. Solve for x:

a) 9n -10n +1 = 0
4 2

b) 4y  13y  9  0
4 2

c) 4y  13y  9  0
4 2

6 17
d)  5  0
t2 t

6. A cube is a solid figure with six faces. Each face is a square. The surface area of
cube is the total area of all the faces of the cube. If I increase the side length of a

1
certain cube by 4, the surface area increases by 576. What is the volume of the
original cube?

Level 7-8

7. Show that the two roots of ax 2 - a 2 x - x - a = 0 are reciprocals of each other.

8. Consider the quadratic equation x 2 +8x + k = 0, where k is a constant.

a) Find both roots of the equation given that one root of the equation is three
times the other.
b) Find the value of k.

9. LuAnn and Bobby took the same algebra test. Problem 5 asked them to find
the solutions to a quadratic equation. LuAnn misread the constant term. She
correctly found that the roots to her incorrect quadratic were -4 and 7. Bobby
misread the linear term. He correctly found that the roots to his incorrect
quadratic were -4 and 10. What are the roots of the correct quadratic?

10. Solve for x and y:

x 2 - 6x + 9 + y 2 + 2y +1= 0

11. Find all values y such that (y + y - 6)(y - 6y + 9) - 2(y - 9) = 0

2 2 2

12. The number of geese in a flock increases so that the difference in the
population in year n+2 and year n is directly proportional to the population in
year n+1. If the populations in the year 1994, 1995 and 1997 were 39, 60 and
123, respectively, then what was the population in 1996?

13.The equation kx 2 - (1+ k)x + 3k + 2 = 0 is such that the sum of its roots is twice
their product. Find k and the roots.

14. The quadratic equation ax 2 - 6x + a - 2 = 0, a ¹ 0 , has one root that is double

the other. Find a and the roots of the equation.

15. The quadratic equation kx 2 + (k -8)x + (1- k) = 0, k ¹ 0 , has one root that is
double the other. Find k and the roots of the equation.

2
Answers:

3.

4.

5.

1 1
a) ,  , 1, -1
3 3
3 3
b) ,  , 1, -1
2 2
1
c) , 5
2
2
d) 3,
5

6.

3
Level 7-8

8. a) x=-2 or x=-6, b)k=12

9.

10. x=3, y=-1

11.

12.

4
 3 1
13. k = - , x = -1 or x =
5 3
1
14. a = 4, x =1 or x = or a = -2, x = -1 or x = -2
2

3 1 5 3
15. k = 4, x= or x = - or k =16, x=- or x =
2 2 4 4