Page 1 / 5
This module is part of a collection of modules that were developed to support laboratory activities in a Precalculus for PreEngineers (MATH 1508) at the University of Texas at El Paso. Contained in this module of applications of quadratic equations in various fields of engineering and science. These include the motion of an object under constant acceleration, quantitative management, and break-even analysis.

Introduction

Quadratic equations play an important role in the modeling of many physical situations. Finding the roots of quadratic equations is a necessary skill. Being able to interpret these roots is an important ability that is important in understanding physical problems. In this module, we will present a number of applications of quadratic equations in several fields of engineering.

Determining the roots of quadratic equations

A quadratic equation has the following form

${\text{ax}}^{2}+\text{bx}+c=0$

Because a quadratic equation involves a polynomial of order 2, it will have two roots. In general, a quadratic equation will either have two roots that are both real or have two roots that are both complex. For the present module, we will restrict our attention to quadratic equations that have two real roots.

There are three methods that are effective in solving for the roots of a quadratic equation. They are:

• Solution by factoring
• Solution by completing the square
• Solution by the quadratic formula

The applications that follow will include examples of each of these three methods of solution.

Motion of an object under uniform acceleration

We will begin our study of quadratic equations by considering an application that you will likely encounter later in physics and mechanical engineering classes. Let us consider an object that is subject to a uniform acceleration. By uniform, we mean an acceleration that is constant. Such an object might be an automobile, an aircraft, a rocket, etc. The motion of an object subjected to uniform acceleration can be expressed mathematically by the following equation.

$s\left(t\right)=\frac{1}{2}a{t}^{2}+{v}_{0}t+{s}_{0}$

where s ( t ) represents the position of the object as function of time t ,

a represents the constant acceleration of the object,

v 0 represents the value of the object’s velocity at time t = 0, and

s 0 represents the position of the object at time t = 0.

An equation of this sort is called an equation of motion . We will illustrate its use in the following exercise.

Example 1: For our first example, let us consider a dragster on a drag strip of length one-quarter mile. For time t<0, the dragster is at rest at the starting line. At time = 0, the driver depresses his gas pedal to produce a uniform acceleration of 50 m/s 2 . Under these conditions, how far will the dragster travel in 1 second?

Because the dragster travels in a horizontal direction, we will represent its distance from the starting point as a fuction of time as x ( t ). We also know that the value for the acceleration ( a ) is 30 m / s 2 . We can incorporate these changes in equation (1) to produce a new equation of motion for the dragster.

can someone help me with some logarithmic and exponential equations.
20/(×-6^2)
Salomon
okay, so you have 6 raised to the power of 2. what is that part of your answer
I don't understand what the A with approx sign and the boxed x mean
it think it's written 20/(X-6)^2 so it's 20 divided by X-6 squared
Salomon
I'm not sure why it wrote it the other way
Salomon
I got X =-6
Salomon
ok. so take the square root of both sides, now you have plus or minus the square root of 20= x-6
oops. ignore that.
so you not have an equal sign anywhere in the original equation?
Commplementary angles
hello
Sherica
im all ears I need to learn
Sherica
right! what he said ⤴⤴⤴
Tamia
what is a good calculator for all algebra; would a Casio fx 260 work with all algebra equations? please name the cheapest, thanks.
a perfect square v²+2v+_
kkk nice
algebra 2 Inequalities:If equation 2 = 0 it is an open set?
or infinite solutions?
Kim
The answer is neither. The function, 2 = 0 cannot exist. Hence, the function is undefined.
Al
y=10×
if |A| not equal to 0 and order of A is n prove that adj (adj A = |A|
rolling four fair dice and getting an even number an all four dice
Kristine 2*2*2=8
Differences Between Laspeyres and Paasche Indices
No. 7x -4y is simplified from 4x + (3y + 3x) -7y
is it 3×y ?
J, combine like terms 7x-4y
im not good at math so would this help me
yes
Asali
I'm not good at math so would you help me
Samantha
what is the problem that i will help you to self with?
Asali
how do you translate this in Algebraic Expressions
Need to simplify the expresin. 3/7 (x+y)-1/7 (x-1)=
. After 3 months on a diet, Lisa had lost 12% of her original weight. She lost 21 pounds. What was Lisa's original weight?
what's the easiest and fastest way to the synthesize AgNP?
China
Cied
types of nano material
I start with an easy one. carbon nanotubes woven into a long filament like a string
Porter
many many of nanotubes
Porter
what is the k.e before it land
Yasmin
what is the function of carbon nanotubes?
Cesar
what is nanomaterials​ and their applications of sensors.
what is nano technology
what is system testing?
preparation of nanomaterial
Yes, Nanotechnology has a very fast field of applications and their is always something new to do with it...
what is system testing
what is the application of nanotechnology?
Stotaw
In this morden time nanotechnology used in many field . 1-Electronics-manufacturad IC ,RAM,MRAM,solar panel etc 2-Helth and Medical-Nanomedicine,Drug Dilivery for cancer treatment etc 3- Atomobile -MEMS, Coating on car etc. and may other field for details you can check at Google
Azam
anybody can imagine what will be happen after 100 years from now in nano tech world
Prasenjit
after 100 year this will be not nanotechnology maybe this technology name will be change . maybe aftet 100 year . we work on electron lable practically about its properties and behaviour by the different instruments
Azam
name doesn't matter , whatever it will be change... I'm taking about effect on circumstances of the microscopic world
Prasenjit
how hard could it be to apply nanotechnology against viral infections such HIV or Ebola?
Damian
silver nanoparticles could handle the job?
Damian
not now but maybe in future only AgNP maybe any other nanomaterials
Azam
can nanotechnology change the direction of the face of the world
At high concentrations (>0.01 M), the relation between absorptivity coefficient and absorbance is no longer linear. This is due to the electrostatic interactions between the quantum dots in close proximity. If the concentration of the solution is high, another effect that is seen is the scattering of light from the large number of quantum dots. This assumption only works at low concentrations of the analyte. Presence of stray light.
the Beer law works very well for dilute solutions but fails for very high concentrations. why?
how did you get the value of 2000N.What calculations are needed to arrive at it
Privacy Information Security Software Version 1.1a
Good
Got questions? Join the online conversation and get instant answers!