Solve by Completing the Square 2x^2+7x+6=0

$2 x^{2} + 7 x + 6 = 0$

Step 1

Subtract $6$ from both sides of the equation.

$2 x^{2} + 7 x = - 6$

Step 2

Divide each term in $2 x^{2} + 7 x = - 6$ by $2$ and simplify.

Divide each term in $2 x^{2} + 7 x = - 6$ by $2$ .

$\frac{2 x^{2}}{2} + \frac{7 x}{2} = \frac{- 6}{2}$

Simplify the left side.

Cancel the common factor of $2$ .

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{2 x^{2}}{2} + \frac{7 x}{2} = \frac{- 6}{2}$

Divide $x^{2}$ by $1$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{7 x}{2} = \frac{- 6}{2}$

Simplify the right side.

Divide $- 6$ by $2$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{7 x}{2} = - 3$

Step 3

To create a trinomial square on the left side of the equation, find a value that is equal to the square of half of $b$ .

${(\frac{b}{2})}^{2} = {(\frac{7}{4})}^{2}$

Step 4

Add the term to each side of the equation.

$x^{2} + \frac{7 x}{2} + {(\frac{7}{4})}^{2} = - 3 + {(\frac{7}{4})}^{2}$

Step 5

Simplify the equation.

Simplify the left side.

Simplify each term.

Apply the product rule to $\frac{7}{4}$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{7 x}{2} + \frac{7^{2}}{4^{2}} = - 3 + {(\frac{7}{4})}^{2}$

Raise $7$ to the power of $2$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{7 x}{2} + \frac{49}{4^{2}} = - 3 + {(\frac{7}{4})}^{2}$

Raise $4$ to the power of $2$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{7 x}{2} + \frac{49}{16} = - 3 + {(\frac{7}{4})}^{2}$

Simplify the right side.

Simplify $- 3 + {(\frac{7}{4})}^{2}$ .

Simplify each term.

Apply the product rule to $\frac{7}{4}$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{7 x}{2} + \frac{49}{16} = - 3 + \frac{7^{2}}{4^{2}}$

Raise $7$ to the power of $2$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{7 x}{2} + \frac{49}{16} = - 3 + \frac{49}{4^{2}}$

Raise $4$ to the power of $2$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{7 x}{2} + \frac{49}{16} = - 3 + \frac{49}{16}$

To write $- 3$ as a fraction with a common denominator, multiply by $\frac{16}{16}$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{7 x}{2} + \frac{49}{16} = - 3 \cdot \frac{16}{16} + \frac{49}{16}$

Combine $- 3$ and $\frac{16}{16}$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{7 x}{2} + \frac{49}{16} = \frac{- 3 \cdot 16}{16} + \frac{49}{16}$

Combine the numerators over the common denominator.

$x^{2} + \frac{7 x}{2} + \frac{49}{16} = \frac{- 3 \cdot 16 + 49}{16}$

Simplify the numerator.

Multiply $- 3$ by $16$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{7 x}{2} + \frac{49}{16} = \frac{- 48 + 49}{16}$

Add $- 48$ and $49$ .

$x^{2} + \frac{7 x}{2} + \frac{49}{16} = \frac{1}{16}$

Step 6

Factor the perfect trinomial square into ${(x + \frac{7}{4})}^{2}$ .

${(x + \frac{7}{4})}^{2} = \frac{1}{16}$

Step 7

Solve the equation for $x$ .

Take the square root of both sides of the equation to eliminate the exponent on the left side.

$x + \frac{7}{4} = \pm \sqrt{\frac{1}{16}}$

Simplify $\pm \sqrt{\frac{1}{16}}$ .

Rewrite $\sqrt{\frac{1}{16}}$ as $\frac{\sqrt{1}}{\sqrt{16}}$ .

$x + \frac{7}{4} = \pm \frac{\sqrt{1}}{\sqrt{16}}$

Any root of $1$ is $1$ .

$x + \frac{7}{4} = \pm \frac{1}{\sqrt{16}}$

Simplify the denominator.

Rewrite $16$ as $4^{2}$ .

$x + \frac{7}{4} = \pm \frac{1}{\sqrt{4^{2}}}$

Pull terms out from under the radical, assuming positive real numbers.

$x + \frac{7}{4} = \pm \frac{1}{4}$

The complete solution is the result of both the positive and negative portions of the solution.

First, use the positive value of the $\pm$ to find the first solution.

$x + \frac{7}{4} = \frac{1}{4}$

Move all terms not containing $x$ to the right side of the equation.

Subtract $\frac{7}{4}$ from both sides of the equation.

$x = \frac{1}{4} - \frac{7}{4}$

Combine the numerators over the common denominator.

$x = \frac{1 - 7}{4}$

Subtract $7$ from $1$ .

$x = \frac{- 6}{4}$

Cancel the common factor of $- 6$ and $4$ .

Factor $2$ out of $- 6$ .

$x = \frac{2 (- 3)}{4}$

Cancel the common factors.

Factor $2$ out of $4$ .

$x = \frac{2 \cdot - 3}{2 \cdot 2}$

Cancel the common factor.

$x = \frac{2 \cdot - 3}{2 \cdot 2}$

Rewrite the expression.

$x = \frac{- 3}{2}$

Move the negative in front of the fraction.

$x = - \frac{3}{2}$

Next, use the negative value of the $\pm$ to find the second solution.

$x + \frac{7}{4} = - \frac{1}{4}$

Move all terms not containing $x$ to the right side of the equation.

Subtract $\frac{7}{4}$ from both sides of the equation.

$x = - \frac{1}{4} - \frac{7}{4}$

Combine the numerators over the common denominator.

$x = \frac{- 1 - 7}{4}$

Subtract $7$ from $- 1$ .

$x = \frac{- 8}{4}$

Divide $- 8$ by $4$ .

$x = - 2$

The complete solution is the result of both the positive and negative portions of the solution.

$x = - \frac{3}{2}, - 2$

Solve by Completing the Square 2x^2+7x+6=0

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