Find the Discriminant -x^2-12x+4=0

$- x^{2} - 12 x + 4 = 0$

Step 1

The discriminant of a quadratic is the expression inside the radical of the quadratic formula.

$b^{2} - 4 (a c)$

Step 2

Substitute in the values of $a$ , $b$ , and $c$ .

${(- 12)}^{2} - 4 (- 1 \cdot 4)$

Step 3

Evaluate the result to find the discriminant.

Simplify each term.

Raise $- 12$ to the power of $2$ .

$144 - 4 (- 1 \cdot 4)$

Multiply $- 4 (- 1 \cdot 4)$ .

Multiply $- 1$ by $4$ .

$144 - 4 \cdot - 4$

Multiply $- 4$ by $- 4$ .

$144 + 16$

Add $144$ and $16$ .

$160$