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Topic: quadratic equation  (Read 2608 times)

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Offline pyrrole

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quadratic equation
« on: April 27, 2011, 01:16:42 PM »
It isnt directly chemistry related, but, how do you solve a quadratic equation of the form

x^4 - 3x^2 +1 = 0

The ususal formula doesnt seem to be giving the correct answer
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Offline DevaDevil

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Re: quadratic equation
« Reply #1 on: April 27, 2011, 01:23:45 PM »
x4 - 3x2 + 1 = 0

say z = x2

then

z2 - 3z + 1 = 0

solve for z first, then use z = x2 again to solve for x
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Offline Dan

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Re: quadratic equation
« Reply #2 on: April 27, 2011, 01:28:07 PM »
Also, just for info, these are called biquadratic equations.
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Offline pyrrole

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Re: quadratic equation
« Reply #3 on: April 27, 2011, 01:31:24 PM »
thankyou!
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