Solve Using the Quadratic Formula k^2-8k-48=0

$k^{2} - 8 k - 48 = 0$

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 $a = 1$ , $b = - 8$ , and $c = - 48$ into the quadratic formula and solve for $k$ .

$\frac{8 \pm \sqrt{{(- 8)}^{2} - 4 \cdot (1 \cdot - 48)}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Step 3

Simplify.

Simplify the numerator.

Raise $- 8$ to the power of $2$ .

$k = \frac{8 \pm \sqrt{64 - 4 \cdot 1 \cdot - 48}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Multiply $- 4 \cdot 1 \cdot - 48$ .

Multiply $- 4$ by $1$ .

$k = \frac{8 \pm \sqrt{64 - 4 \cdot - 48}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Multiply $- 4$ by $- 48$ .

$k = \frac{8 \pm \sqrt{64 + 192}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Add $64$ and $192$ .

$k = \frac{8 \pm \sqrt{256}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Rewrite $256$ as $16^{2}$ .

$k = \frac{8 \pm \sqrt{16^{2}}}{2 \cdot 1}$

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

$k = \frac{8 \pm 16}{2 \cdot 1}$

Multiply $2$ by $1$ .

$k = \frac{8 \pm 16}{2}$

Simplify $\frac{8 \pm 16}{2}$ .

$k = 4 \pm 8$

Step 4

The final answer is the combination of both solutions.

$k = 12, - 4$