Solve Using the Quadratic Formula x^2-4x=-1

$x^{2} - 4 x = - 1$

Step 1

Add $1$ to both sides of the equation.

$x^{2} - 4 x + 1 = 0$

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 $a = 1$ , $b = - 4$ , and $c = 1$ into the quadratic formula and solve for $x$ .

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

Step 4

Simplify.

Simplify the numerator.

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

$x = \frac{4 \pm \sqrt{16 - 4 \cdot 1 \cdot 1}}{2 \cdot 1}$

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

Multiply $- 4$ by $1$ .

$x = \frac{4 \pm \sqrt{16 - 4 \cdot 1}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Multiply $- 4$ by $1$ .

$x = \frac{4 \pm \sqrt{16 - 4}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Subtract $4$ from $16$ .

$x = \frac{4 \pm \sqrt{12}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Rewrite $12$ as $2^{2} \cdot 3$ .

Factor $4$ out of $12$ .

$x = \frac{4 \pm \sqrt{4 (3)}}{2 \cdot 1}$

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

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

Pull terms out from under the radical.

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

Multiply $2$ by $1$ .

$x = \frac{4 \pm 2 \sqrt{3}}{2}$

Simplify $\frac{4 \pm 2 \sqrt{3}}{2}$ .

$x = 2 \pm \sqrt{3}$

Step 5

The result can be shown in multiple forms.

Exact Form:

$x = 2 \pm \sqrt{3}$

Decimal Form:

$x = 3.73205080 \dots, 0.26794919 \dots$