Solve Using the Quadratic Formula x^2-8x=33

$x^{2} - 8 x = 33$

Step 1

Subtract $33$ from both sides of the equation.

$x^{2} - 8 x - 33 = 0$

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 $a = 1$ , $b = - 8$ , and $c = - 33$ into the quadratic formula and solve for $x$ .

$\frac{8 \pm \sqrt{{(- 8)}^{2} - 4 \cdot (1 \cdot - 33)}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Step 4

Simplify.

Simplify the numerator.

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

$x = \frac{8 \pm \sqrt{64 - 4 \cdot 1 \cdot - 33}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Multiply $- 4 \cdot 1 \cdot - 33$ .

Multiply $- 4$ by $1$ .

$x = \frac{8 \pm \sqrt{64 - 4 \cdot - 33}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Multiply $- 4$ by $- 33$ .

$x = \frac{8 \pm \sqrt{64 + 132}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Add $64$ and $132$ .

$x = \frac{8 \pm \sqrt{196}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Rewrite $196$ as $14^{2}$ .

$x = \frac{8 \pm \sqrt{14^{2}}}{2 \cdot 1}$

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

$x = \frac{8 \pm 14}{2 \cdot 1}$

Multiply $2$ by $1$ .

$x = \frac{8 \pm 14}{2}$

Simplify $\frac{8 \pm 14}{2}$ .

$x = 4 \pm 7$

Step 5

The final answer is the combination of both solutions.

$x = 11, - 3$