I have to find the zeros of f(x) = x^2 + 2x-5

can someone start me off so I have an example to work from for the rest of my problems-thank you for your help

2 answers

The zeros of a function are the values of x which make f(x) equal to zero, or ...
you are looking for the x-intercepts.

so let x^2 + 2x - 5 - 0
Since it does not factor, we have to use the quadratic formula
x = (-2 ± √(4 -4(1)(-5)) )/2
= (-2 ± √24)/2
= (-2 ± 2√6)/2
= -1 ± √6
Thank you so much for showing me-now I can use this as an example