Solve Using the Quadratic Formula x^2-x-4=0

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

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

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

Step 3

Simplify.

Simplify the numerator.

Raise $- 1$ to the power of $2$ .

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

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

Multiply $- 4$ by $1$ .

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

Multiply $- 4$ by $- 4$ .

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

Add $1$ and $16$ .

$x = \frac{1 \pm \sqrt{17}}{2 \cdot 1}$

Multiply $2$ by $1$ .

$x = \frac{1 \pm \sqrt{17}}{2}$

Step 4

The result can be shown in multiple forms.

Exact Form:

$x = \frac{1 \pm \sqrt{17}}{2}$

Decimal Form:

$x = 2.56155281 \dots, - 1.56155281 \dots$