Question

What is the discriminant and how does it determine the number of solutions of a quadratic equation?

Answer 1

The term D=b2−4ac is called the discriminant and gives important information about the number and nature of the solutions to the quadratic equation to be solved. Three cases are possible:
If D>;0, the equation has 2 real solutions.
If D=0, the equation has 1 real solution.
If D<;0, the equation has 2 conjugate imaginary solutions.