Solve Using the Quadratic Formula x^2+6x+10=0

$x^{2} + 6 x + 10 = 0$

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 $a = 1$ , $b = 6$ , and $c = 10$ into the quadratic formula and solve for $x$ .

$\frac{- 6 \pm \sqrt{6^{2} - 4 \cdot (1 \cdot 10)}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Step 3

Simplify.

Simplify the numerator.

Raise $6$ to the power of $2$ .

$x = \frac{- 6 \pm \sqrt{36 - 4 \cdot 1 \cdot 10}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Multiply $- 4 \cdot 1 \cdot 10$ .

Multiply $- 4$ by $1$ .

$x = \frac{- 6 \pm \sqrt{36 - 4 \cdot 10}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Multiply $- 4$ by $10$ .

$x = \frac{- 6 \pm \sqrt{36 - 40}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Subtract $40$ from $36$ .

$x = \frac{- 6 \pm \sqrt{- 4}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Rewrite $- 4$ as $- 1 (4)$ .

$x = \frac{- 6 \pm \sqrt{- 1 \cdot 4}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Rewrite $\sqrt{- 1 (4)}$ as $\sqrt{- 1} \cdot \sqrt{4}$ .

$x = \frac{- 6 \pm \sqrt{- 1} \cdot \sqrt{4}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Rewrite $\sqrt{- 1}$ as $i$ .

$x = \frac{- 6 \pm i \cdot \sqrt{4}}{2 \cdot 1}$

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

$x = \frac{- 6 \pm i \cdot \sqrt{2^{2}}}{2 \cdot 1}$

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

$x = \frac{- 6 \pm i \cdot 2}{2 \cdot 1}$

Move $2$ to the left of $i$ .

$x = \frac{- 6 \pm 2 i}{2 \cdot 1}$

Multiply $2$ by $1$ .

$x = \frac{- 6 \pm 2 i}{2}$

Simplify $\frac{- 6 \pm 2 i}{2}$ .

$x = - 3 \pm i$