Solve Using the Quadratic Formula x^2+7x-3=0

$x^{2} + 7 x - 3 = 0$

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 $a = 1$ , $b = 7$ , and $c = - 3$ into the quadratic formula and solve for $x$ .

$\frac{- 7 \pm \sqrt{7^{2} - 4 \cdot (1 \cdot - 3)}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Step 3

Simplify.

Simplify the numerator.

Raise $7$ to the power of $2$ .

$x = \frac{- 7 \pm \sqrt{49 - 4 \cdot 1 \cdot - 3}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Multiply $- 4 \cdot 1 \cdot - 3$ .

Multiply $- 4$ by $1$ .

$x = \frac{- 7 \pm \sqrt{49 - 4 \cdot - 3}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Multiply $- 4$ by $- 3$ .

$x = \frac{- 7 \pm \sqrt{49 + 12}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Add $49$ and $12$ .

$x = \frac{- 7 \pm \sqrt{61}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Multiply $2$ by $1$ .

$x = \frac{- 7 \pm \sqrt{61}}{2}$

Step 4

The result can be shown in multiple forms.

Exact Form:

$x = \frac{- 7 \pm \sqrt{61}}{2}$

Decimal Form:

$x = 0.40512483 \dots, - 7.40512483 \dots$