In this lesson, students encounter the quadratic formula and learn that it can be used to solve any quadratic equation. The quadratic formula is and gives the solutions of the quadratic equation , where , , and are constants and . Students use the formula and verify that it produces the same solutions as those found using other methods but can be much more practical for certain equations.

As students practice using the quadratic formula, they must attend closely to the structure of the formula as well as the equation they are solving (MP7).