Find the roots of the following quadratic equations (if they exist) by the method of completing the square.
$2 x^{2}+x-4=0$
We have been given that,
$2 x^{2}+x-4=0$
Now divide throughout by 2. We get,
$x^{2}+\frac{1}{2} x-2=0$
Now take the constant term to the RHS and we get
$x^{2}+\frac{1}{2} x=2$
Now add square of half of co-efficient of ‘x’ on both the sides. We have,
$x^{2}+\frac{1}{2} x+\left(\frac{1}{4}\right)^{2}=\left(\frac{1}{4}\right)^{2}+2$
$x^{2}+\left(\frac{1}{4}\right)^{2}+2\left(\frac{1}{4}\right) x=\frac{33}{16}$
$\left(x+\frac{1}{4}\right)^{2}=\frac{33}{16}$
Since RHS is a positive number, therefore the roots of the equation exist.
So, now take the square root on both the sides and we get
$x+\frac{1}{4}=\pm \frac{\sqrt{33}}{4}$
$x=\frac{-1 \pm \sqrt{33}}{4}$
Now, we have the values of ‘x’ as
$x=\frac{-1+\sqrt{33}}{4}$
Also we have,
$x=\frac{-1-\sqrt{33}}{4}$
Therefore the roots of the equation are $\frac{\sqrt{33}-1}{4}$ and $\frac{-1-\sqrt{33}}{4}$.