Solve Using the Quadratic Formula 3x^2-5x=12

$3 x^{2} - 5 x = 12$

Step 1

Subtract $12$ from both sides of the equation.

$3 x^{2} - 5 x - 12 = 0$

Step 2

Use the quadratic formula to find the solutions.

$\frac{- b \pm \sqrt{b^{2} - 4 (a c)}}{2 a}$

Step 3

Substitute the values $a = 3$ , $b = - 5$ , and $c = - 12$ into the quadratic formula and solve for $x$ .

$\frac{5 \pm \sqrt{{(- 5)}^{2} - 4 \cdot (3 \cdot - 12)}}{2 \cdot 3}$

Step 4

Simplify.

Simplify the numerator.

Raise $- 5$ to the power of $2$ .

$x = \frac{5 \pm \sqrt{25 - 4 \cdot 3 \cdot - 12}}{2 \cdot 3}$

Multiply $- 4 \cdot 3 \cdot - 12$ .

Multiply $- 4$ by $3$ .

$x = \frac{5 \pm \sqrt{25 - 12 \cdot - 12}}{2 \cdot 3}$

Multiply $- 12$ by $- 12$ .

$x = \frac{5 \pm \sqrt{25 + 144}}{2 \cdot 3}$

Add $25$ and $144$ .

$x = \frac{5 \pm \sqrt{169}}{2 \cdot 3}$

Rewrite $169$ as $13^{2}$ .

$x = \frac{5 \pm \sqrt{13^{2}}}{2 \cdot 3}$

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

$x = \frac{5 \pm 13}{2 \cdot 3}$

Multiply $2$ by $3$ .

$x = \frac{5 \pm 13}{6}$

Step 5

The final answer is the combination of both solutions.

$x = 3, - \frac{4}{3}$