quadratic formula

[ kwo-drat-ik fawr-myuh-luh ]

noun

, Mathematics.

1. the formula for determining the roots of a quadratic equation from its coefficients: .

Example Sentences

These days most students take the math course when they are high school freshmen — remember the quadratic formula? — but top-achieving students are sometimes offered the chance to take algebra a year earlier, in eighth grade.

From New York Times

It’s the famous quadratic formula, which is the crowning achievement of high-school algebra class.

From Literature

The quadratic formula has been known for centuries; the ninth-century mathematician al-Khowarizmi knew how to solve almost every quadratic equation, though he didn’t seem to consider negative numbers as roots.

From Literature

For Matt Baker, a high school math teacher in Brooklyn, that moment came a few weeks ago, when his students started singing along to a tune intended to help them memorize the quadratic formula.

From New York Times

“A lot of us just teach the way we learned: ‘Here’s a quadratic formula, so use it to solve these equations.’

From Los Angeles Times