Solve Using the Quadratic Formula 5x^2-x-3=0

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

Step 1

Use the quadratic formula to find the solutions.

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

Step 2

Substitute the values $a = 5$ , $b = - 1$ , and $c = - 3$ into the quadratic formula and solve for $x$ .

$\frac{1 \pm \sqrt{{(- 1)}^{2} - 4 \cdot (5 \cdot - 3)}}{2 \cdot 5}$

Step 3

Simplify.

Simplify the numerator.

Raise $- 1$ to the power of $2$ .

$x = \frac{1 \pm \sqrt{1 - 4 \cdot 5 \cdot - 3}}{2 \cdot 5}$

Multiply $- 4 \cdot 5 \cdot - 3$ .

Multiply $- 4$ by $5$ .

$x = \frac{1 \pm \sqrt{1 - 20 \cdot - 3}}{2 \cdot 5}$

Multiply $- 20$ by $- 3$ .

$x = \frac{1 \pm \sqrt{1 + 60}}{2 \cdot 5}$

Add $1$ and $60$ .

$x = \frac{1 \pm \sqrt{61}}{2 \cdot 5}$

Multiply $2$ by $5$ .

$x = \frac{1 \pm \sqrt{61}}{10}$

Step 4

The result can be shown in multiple forms.

Exact Form:

$x = \frac{1 \pm \sqrt{61}}{10}$

Decimal Form:

$x = 0.88102496 \dots, - 0.68102496 \dots$