According to the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra, 4x^2+11x−20=0 has two solutions. How many of those solutions are integers?

1 answer

To determine how many solutions of the quadratic equation \( 4x^2 + 11x - 20 = 0 \) are integers, we can use the quadratic formula:

\[ x = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a} \]

Here, \( a = 4 \), \( b = 11 \), and \( c = -20 \).

First, we calculate the discriminant \( D \):

\[ D = b^2 - 4ac = 11^2 - 4(4)(-20) \]

Calculating \( 11^2 \):

\[ 11^2 = 121 \]

Now calculating \( 4(4)(-20) \):

\[ 4 \cdot 4 \cdot -20 = -320 \]

So, we find \( D \):

\[ D = 121 - (-320) = 121 + 320 = 441 \]

Next, we check if \( D \) is a perfect square. The square root of \( 441 \) is:

\[ \sqrt{441} = 21 \]

Now substituting \( D \) back into the quadratic formula:

\[ x = \frac{-11 \pm 21}{2 \cdot 4} = \frac{-11 \pm 21}{8} \]

This gives us two possible solutions:

\[ x_1 = \frac{-11 + 21}{8} = \frac{10}{8} = \frac{5}{4} \]

\[ x_2 = \frac{-11 - 21}{8} = \frac{-32}{8} = -4 \]

Now, we have the two solutions \( x_1 = \frac{5}{4} \) and \( x_2 = -4 \).

Out of these, only \( x_2 = -4 \) is an integer.

Thus, the number of integer solutions for the quadratic equation \( 4x^2 + 11x - 20 = 0 \) is:

\[ \boxed{1} \]