Chapter 6

Lesson
Vocabulary
Quadratic Expressions,
6-1 Rectangles, and Squares
quadratic expression
quadratic equation
quadratic function
standard form of a quadratic
BIG IDEA Some quadratic expressions arise from problems binomial
involving the areas of rectangles.

Recall that the degree of a monomial is the sum of the exponents Mental Math
of the variables in the monomial, and the degree of a polynomial is A 6' by 3.5' mural
the highest degree among its monomial terms. For instance, the is surrounded by a
monomials 20x5 and __13 ab4 have degree 5, while the polynomial x5 - x6 1.5'–wide border.
has degree 6. The word quadratic in today’s mathematics refers to a. What is the area of the
expressions, equations, and functions that involve sums of constants mural?
and first and second powers of variables and no higher powers. b. What is the area of the
That is, they are of degree 2. Specifically, if a, b, and c are real mural plus the border?
numbers, a ≠ 0, and x is a variable, c. What is the area of just
ax 2 + bx + c is the general quadratic expression in x, the border?
d. The border is narrowed
ax 2 + bx + c = 0 is the general quadratic equation in x, and to 1 foot wide. Now what is
f: x → ax 2 + bx + c is the general quadratic function in x. the area of the mural and
border?
We call ax 2 + bx + c the standard form of a quadratic. In standard
form, the powers of the variable are in decreasing order. Some
quadratic expressions, equations, and functions are not in standard
form, but they can be rewritten in standard form.
QY1 QY1
Write 3x - (5 - 2x2) in
There can also be quadratics in two or more variables. The
standard form.
general quadratic expression in two variables is
Ax 2 + Bxy + Cy 2 + Dx + Ey + F.
Quadratic equations and quadratic functions in two variables are
discussed in Chapter 12.
The simplest quadratic expression x 2 is the product of the simplest
linear expressions x and x. More generally, the product of any two
linear expressions ax + b and cx + d is a quadratic expression for any
real numbers a, b, c, and d, provided a and c are not zero. Because
all area formulas involve the product of two lengths, they all involve
quadratic expressions.

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 Lesson 6–1

Quadratic Expressions from Rectangles

Example 1
Hector and Francisca are remodeling their kitchen. They purchase a 6-foot w w
by 2–foot pantry door, and are looking at different widths of molding to trim 24 in.
w
the door frame. If the trim is w inches wide, write the total area of the door
and trim in standard form.

Solution Draw a picture. The door is surrounded by trim on

3 sides. The door with trim occupies a rectangle with length
72 + w inches and width 24 + 2w inches. The area of this 72 in.

rectangle is (72 + w)(24 + 2w) square inches.

Use the Distributive Property to multiply (72 + w)(24 + 2w). Think of
(72 + w) as a single number.
(72 + w)(24 + 2w) = (72 + w) · 24 + (72 + w) · 2w
Now apply the Distributive Property twice more.
= 72 · 24 + w · 24 + 72 · 2w + w · 2w
= 1728 + 24w + 144w + 2w2 Arithmetic
= 1728 + 168w + 2w 2 Combine like terms.
In standard form, the total area of the door and
the trim is 2w2 + 168w + 1728 square inches.

Check Use a CAS to expand the expression.

QY2 QY2
The expression
2w2 + 168w + 1728 is
Quadratic Expressions from Squares in the form ax2 + bx + c.
The expression x + y is an example of a binomial. In general, a What are a, b, c, and x?
binomial is an expression with two terms. The square of a binomial
can be thought of as the area of a square whose side length is the
binomial.

Example 2
Write the area of the square with sides of length x + y in standard form.
x x2 xy
Solution 1 Draw a picture of the square. Notice that its area is the sum
of four smaller areas: a square of area x2, two rectangles, each with area xy,
and a square with area y2. So, the area of the original square is y xy y2
x2 + 2xy + y2.
(continued on next page) x y

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 Chapter 6

Solution 2 The area of a square with side x + y is (x + y)2.

Rewrite (x + y)2.
(x + y)2 = (x + y)(x + y) Definition of second power
= (x + y)x + (x + y)y Distributive Property
= x2 + yx + xy + y2 Distributive Property
= x2 + 2xy + y2 Commutative Property of
Multiplication and
Distributive Property
The area of the square is x2 + 2xy + y2.

When a linear expression is multiplied by itself, or squared, the

result is a quadratic expression. In Example 2, the linear expression
x + y is squared. You can also say it is “taken to the 2nd power.”
Writing this power as a quadratic expression is called expanding the
power. Squares of binomials occur so often that their expansions are
identified as a theorem.

Binomial Square Theorem

For all real numbers x and y,
(x + y)2 = x2 + 2xy + y2 and
(x - y)2 = x2 - 2xy + y2.

Solution 2 of Example 2 provides the proof of the first part of this

theorem. You are asked to complete the second part of this proof in
Question 13. The Binomial Square Theorem is so useful that you will
want to be able to apply it automatically.
QY3
QY3
Use the Binomial Square
Theorem to expand
GUIDED (3x - y)2.
Example 3
A city wants to cover the seating area around a circular fountain with mosaic
tiles. The radius of the fountain, including s feet for seating, is 15 feet.
a. Write a quadratic expression in standard form for the area of the
fountain, not including the seating area.
b. How many square feet are in the seating area in terms of s?
Solution
? 15
a. Draw a picture. The radius of the fountain without seating is ft.
So, the fountain area without seating is π ( ? ) ft 2. 2 s

To expand ( ? - ? )2, use the Binomial Square Theorem

with x = ? and y = s.

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 Lesson 6–1

( ? - s)2 = ? 2 - 2 · ? · s + s2
= s2 - ? s + ?
So the area of the fountain not including seating is
π( ? )2 or π ? - 30πs + 225π ft2.
b. The seating area is the total area minus the fountain area without
seating.
152π - ( ? )2π = 225π - ( ? - ? + ? )π
= ? - ?
So the area of the seating area is ? ft2.

Questions
COVERING THE IDEAS
1. Multiple Choice Which is not a quadratic equation? Explain
your answer.
x 2
A y = __
6
B y = 2(x – 4)
x2 y2
C __
4
- __
9
= 25 D y = (x + 3)(2x - 5)

2. Is x 2 + √
7 a quadratic expression? Explain your answer.
3. Name two geometric figures for which quadratic expressions
describe their area.
4. A door is 7 feet high and 30 inches wide, with trim of
w inches wide on three sides of the door frame. Write the
total area (in square inches) of the door and trim in
standard form.
In 5–8, the product of two linear expressions is given.
a. Rewrite the product as a single polynomial.
b. Check your results using the expand command
on a CAS.
5. (3x + 5y)(2x + 7y) 6. (x - 3)(x + 2)
7. (1 - 2y)(2 - 3y) 8. (6 + b)(2 - b)
In 9–11, expand the square of the binomial. This doorway in Dublin,
9. (10 + 3)2 10. (d - 6)2 11. (p + w)2 Ireland, has very ornate trim.
12. Draw a geometric diagram of the expansion of (x + 5)2.
13. Prove the second part of the Binomial Square Theorem.
In 14 and 15, rewrite the expression in the form ax2 + bx + c.
14. ( 3t - __13 )2 15. (1 - p)2

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 Chapter 6

16. Refer to the quadratic expression in Example 1. Graph

y = (72 + x)(24 + 2x) and y = 2x 2 + 168x + 1728 in the window
{x | –160 ≤ x ≤ 160}, {y | –2250 ≤ y ≤ 5750}.
a. Trace the graph and toggle between the two graphs for at
least three different values of x. What do you notice about the
ordered pairs when you switch between the graphs?
b. Look at a table of values for the two functions. Does the table
support your observation from Part a?
c. Based on your results in Parts a and b, what do you conclude
about the two equations you graphed?
17. Suppose a rectangular swimming pool with dimensions of
100 feet by 12 feet is surrounded by a walkway of width w.
a. Write a quadratic expression in standard form that
gives the area of the pool and walkway together.
b. Write an expression that gives the area of the
walkway only.

APPLYING THE MATHEMATICS

In 18 and 19, rewrite the expression in the form ax2 + bxy + cy2.
18. (2a + 3b)2 19. ( 2t - __k3 )2
20. Refer to Example 3. If s = 3 feet and 12 mosaic tiles cover one
square foot, how many tiles would be needed to cover the
seating area around the fountain?
21. Certain ceramic tiles are 4 inches by 8 inches and x x

are separated by grout seams that are x inches wide.

a. Write a quadratic expression in standard form for x
the area covered by each tile and its share of the
grout. (The grout in each seam is shared by two x
tiles, so each tile’s share is only half the grout in
each seam.)
b. If the grout seams are __12 inch wide, approximately
how many tiles will it take to cover a 5–foot by 10–foot wall?
c. What percent of the wall in Part b is grout?
d. If the grout seams are __34 – inch wide, what percent of the wall
will be grout?
22. a. Expand (x - y)2 - (x + y)2 on a CAS.
b. Verify the CAS solution by using the
Binomial Square Theorem.
In 23 and 24, find h so that the given equation is true.
__
23. x 2 + 20x + 100 = (x + h)2 24. x 2 - hx + h = (x - √h )2

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 Lesson 6–1

REVIEW
In 25 and 26, use the following data about the United States National
Parks. (Lessons 3–5, 2–4)

Number of Recreation Federal Appropriations

Year
Visits (millions) (billions of $)

1999 287.1 2.030

2000 285.9 2.112

2001 279.9 2.568

2002 277.3 2.654

2003 266.1 2.546

Source: National Park Service

25. Find the rate of change from 1999 to 2003 for each of the
following:
a. number of recreation visits b. federal appropriations
26. a. Find an equation for the line of best fit describing the
number of recreation visits as a function of the year using
only the years 1999, 2001, and 2003. Let x be the number of
years after 1999.
b. How well does the line of best fit predict the value for 2002?
27. a. Draw  ABC with vertices A = (0, 0), B = (1, 1),
and C = (2, 4).
b. Draw  ABC, its image under the transformation
(x, y) → (x - 5, y + 2).
c. Describe the effect of this transformation on  ABC.
(Lesson 4-10)
28. If m varies inversely as t 2, and m = 14 when t = 2.5, find the
value of m when t = 7. (Lesson 2–2)

EXPLORATION
29. Doorway trim comes in various widths.
a. Find out the prices of at least three different widths of
doorway trim.
b. Suppose you want to frame a 7-foot by 3-foot door. Find the QY ANSWERS
area of the door moldings for each of the three different sizes
1. 2x2 + 3x - 5
you have found.
c. How much will it cost to frame the door with each size of 2. a = 2, b = 168,
molding? c = 1728, and x = w

d. Does the cost in Part b vary directly as the area of the 3. (3x)2 - 2(3x)y + y2 =
molding? If so, how? 9x2 - 6xy + y2

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