RELATIONS OF ROOTS AND COEFFICIENTS

"#$√∆ "#"√∆
The roots of a quadratic equation 𝑎𝑥 ! + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐 = 0 are 𝑥! = and 𝑥' = .
'( '(

1) Sum of the roots: 𝑏

𝑥! + 𝑥' = −
𝑎

Ex: Given that; 𝑥 ! + 9𝑥 + 14 = 0 . Find 𝑥" + 𝑥! .

#
Ex: Given that; (𝑚 + 2)𝑥 ! − 2𝑚𝑥 − 5 = 0 . If the sum of the roots is !
, find 𝑚 .

2) Product of the roots: 𝑐

𝑥! ∙ 𝑥' =
𝑎

Ex: Given that; 𝑥 ! + 9𝑥 + 14 = 0 . Find 𝑥" ∙ 𝑥! .

Ex: Given that; 𝑥 ! − (2𝑚 − 1)𝑥 + 5𝑚 − 7 = 0 . If the product of the roots is twice the sum of the roots,
find 𝑚.

NOTE: ROOTS SATISFY THE EQUATION.

Ex: If one of the roots of the equation 𝑥 ! + (𝑚 + 2)𝑥 + 𝑚 + 1 = 0 is 2, find m.

Ex: The solution set of the equation 𝑎𝑥 ! + 𝑏𝑥 = 3 is {1, 2}. Find 𝑎 and 𝑏.

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Homework:
1) If one of the roots of the equation (𝑚 + 2)𝑥 ! + (𝑚 + 3)𝑥 + 𝑚 + 4 = 0 is -1, find the other root.

2) If one of the roots of the equation 3𝑥 ! − 2𝑚𝑥 + 𝑚 − 2 = 0 is 𝑚, find the possible values of 𝑚.

3) Given that; 𝑥 ! − 6𝑥 + 3𝑚 + 5 = 0 . One of the roots equals twice the other root. Find 𝑚.

3) Difference between the roots:

√∆
|𝑥! − 𝑥' | =
|𝑎|

Ex: Given that; 𝑥 ! − (𝑚 + 1)𝑥 + 𝑚 = 0 . If the difference between the roots is 2, find 𝑚 .

! !
4) Sum of the reciprocals of the roots:
)!
+) =
"

Ex: Given that; 𝑥 ! − (𝑚 − 3)𝑥 + 𝑚 + 1 = 0 . If the sum of the reciprocals of the roots is 2, find 𝑚.

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5) Sum of the squares of the roots: 𝑥!' + 𝑥'' =

Ex: Given that; 𝑥 ! + 2𝑥 + 𝑚 − 4 = 0 and 𝑥"! + 𝑥!! = 20. Find 𝑚.

! !
6) Sum of the squares of the reciprocals of the roots: + )" =
)!" "

! !
Ex: Given that; 𝑥 ! − 2𝑥 + 5 = 0 . Find + .
)!" )""

)! )
7) Sum of the ratios of the roots:
)"
+ )" =
!

)! )
Ex: Given that; 𝑥 ! − 2𝑥 + 5 = 0 . Find + )" .
)" !

8) Sum of the cubes of the roots: 𝑥!* + 𝑥'* =

Ex: Given that; 𝑥 ! − 2𝑥 + 5 = 0 . Find 𝑥!* + 𝑥'* .

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Homework:

a) 4𝑥 ! − 2𝑥 − 1 = 0 . Find 𝑥" + 𝑥! .

b) 2𝑥 ! + 5𝑥 − 6 = 0 . Find 𝑥" ∙ 𝑥! .

√)! $)"
c) 𝑥 ! − 4𝑥 + 1 = 0 . Find .
√)! ∙)"

d) 2𝑥 ! − 3𝑥 − 1 = 0 . Find |𝑥" − 𝑥! | .

" "
e) 𝑥 ! − 7𝑥 + 3 = 0 . Find $!
+$ .
"

f) 2𝑥 ! − 𝑥 − 5 = 0 . Find 𝑥"% 𝑥!! + 𝑥"! 𝑥!% .

g) 3𝑥 ! + 6𝑥 − 2 = 0 . Find 𝑥"! + 𝑥!! .

! !
h) 𝑥 ! − 2𝑥 + 2 = 0 . Find +) .
)! $! " $!

)! )
i) −𝑥 ! + 4𝑥 − 1 = 0 . Find + )" .
)" !

j) 𝑥 ! + 𝑥 + 3 = 0 . Find 𝑥"% + 𝑥!% .

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Exercises:
"%
1) Given that; −2𝑥 ! − 𝑛𝑥 + 𝑛 + 2 = 0 . If 4𝑥! + 𝑥" (4 + 3𝑥! ) = − !
, find 𝑛.

! !
6) Given that; (9 − 𝑚! )𝑥 ! − 2(𝑚 + 1)𝑥 + 1 = 0 . If
)!
+ ) = 6, find 𝑚.
"

7) Given that; 𝑥 ! − 𝑎𝑥 + 2 = 0 . If (𝑥" + 2)(𝑥! + 2) = 16 , find 𝑎.

8) Given that; 𝑥 ! − 6𝑥 + 4 = 0 . Find √𝑥" + √𝑥! .

9) Given that; 𝑥 ! + (2𝑝 − 3)𝑥 − 𝑝 − 1 = 0 . If 𝑥"! + 𝑥!! = 17 , find 𝑝.

10) Given that; 𝑥 ! − 4𝑥 + 𝑚 − 3 = 0 . If 𝑥" − 𝑥! = 6 , find 𝑚.

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11) Given that; 𝑚𝑥 ! − 2𝑚𝑥 + 4 = 0 . If 3𝑥" − 2𝑥! = 11 , find 𝑚.

12) Given that; 𝑥 ! − 2𝑥 + 6𝑛 − 9 = 0 . If 𝑥"! − 𝑥!! = 12 , find 𝑛.

13) Given that; 𝑥 ! − (𝑘 − 3)𝑥 + 27 = 0 . If 𝑥" = 3𝑥! , find 𝑘.

14) Given that; 𝑥 ! − 𝑚𝑥 − 8 = 0 . If 𝑥" = 𝑥!! , find 𝑚.

15) Given that; 2𝑥 ! − 𝑚𝑥 + 4 = 0 . If 𝑥"! = 4𝑥! , find 𝑚.

16) Given that; 𝑥 ! − (3𝑥! + 4)𝑥 + 4𝑥" = 0 . If 𝑥" and 𝑥! are the roots of the equation, find 𝑥" ∙ 𝑥! .

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NOTE: Let the roots of 𝑎𝑥 ! + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐 = 0 be 𝑥" and 𝑥! ,

Arithmetic mean of the roots:

Geometric mean of the roots:

17) The arithmetic mean of the roots of the equation 𝑥 ! − (𝑚 + 1)𝑥 + 1 − 9𝑚 = 0 is 1. Find 𝑚.

18) The geometric mean of the roots of the equation (𝑚 − 2)𝑥 ! − (𝑚 + 2)𝑥 + 2𝑚 − 2 = 0 is 2. Find 𝑚.

19) If the arithmetic mean of the roots of the equation 𝑥 ! − 2𝑚𝑥 + 2 = 0 is twice the geometric mean
of the roots, find 𝑚.

NOTE: Symmetric roots: Two roots are symmetric if they are additive inverses of each other. 𝑥" = −𝑥!
The SUM of the symmetric roots is ZERO. 𝑥" + 𝑥! = 0

20) The roots of the equation 𝑥 ! − (2𝑚 − 1)𝑥 + 𝑚 − 1 = 0 are symmetric. Find 𝑚.

21) The roots of the equation (4𝑚 + 1)𝑥 ! + (𝑚 − 2)𝑥 − 1 = 0 are symmetric. Find 𝑚 and the roots.

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 Writing a Quadratic Equation using the given roots

𝑎𝑥 ! + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐 = 0
𝑏 𝑐
𝑥! + 𝑥 + = 0
𝑎 𝑎
𝑏 𝑐
𝑥 ! − @− A 𝑥 + = 0
𝑎 𝑎

sum product

𝒙𝟐 − 𝑺𝒙 + 𝑷 = 𝟎 where, 𝑥! + 𝑥' = 𝑺 and 𝑥! ∙ 𝑥' = 𝑷

Exercises:
1) Write a second degree equation whose roots are -3 and 5.

2) Write a quadratic equation whose solution set is {−2} .

3) Write a second degree equation with rational coefficients if one of its roots is 5 − √3 .

"
4) Write a quadratic equation with rational coefficients if one of its roots is √3 − % .

"
5) Write a second degree equation with rational coefficients if one of its roots is .
√#'!

6) Write a second degree equation with real coefficients if one of its roots is 1 − 2𝑖 .

7) Write a quadratic equation with real coefficients if one of its roots is 3𝑖 − 2 .

8) The roots of the equation 𝑥 ! − 𝑥 + 3 = 0 are 𝑥" and 𝑥! . Write a quadratic equation whose roots
are (𝑥" + 1) and (𝑥! + 1) .

9) The roots of the equation −𝑥 ! − 4𝑥 + 1 = 0 are 𝑥" and 𝑥! . Write a quadratic equation whose
! !
roots are $ and $ .
! "

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THEOREM:
For a polynomial; 𝑎( 𝑥 ( + 𝑎('" 𝑥 ('" + 𝑎('! 𝑥 ('! + ⋯ + 𝑎) = 0 (𝑎( ≠ 0)

𝒂𝒏$𝟏
Ø The sum of the roots : − 𝒂𝒏

(&
, 𝑖𝑓 𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛
('
Ø The product of the roots : 0 (&
−( , 𝑖𝑓 𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑑𝑑
'

Exercises:
Find the sum and the product of the roots.
1) 3𝑥 * + 13𝑥 % + 15𝑥 ! − 4 = 0

2) 𝑥 * − 4𝑥 ! = −5

3) 3𝑥 % + 5𝑥 ! − 4𝑥 − 20 = 0

4) 2𝑥 + − 𝑥 # + 𝑥 + 3 = 0

5) 𝑥 % + 15 = 0

6) 6𝑥 % + 𝑥 = 9𝑥 !

7) The equation 𝑥 % + 𝑐𝑥 + 𝑑 = 0 has 1 + √3 as one of its roots. Find 𝑐 and 𝑑. (𝑐, 𝑑 ∈ 𝑄)

8) The equation 𝑥 % + 4𝑥 ! − 9𝑥 + 𝑑 = 0 has two roots that are additive inverses (opposites) of each other.
Find 𝑑.