This post is a little different than the recent Edexcel or AQA GCSE exam papers, and it’s a more in keeping with the whole idea of 3minutemaths.co.uk.
GCSE Maths Completing the Square is one of those topics that can be learned in 3 minutes 🙂 but then requires a little more practice. So, here’s a number of videos to help you work through the types of problems that you’ll be asked to solve in an typical exam.
Here’s the completing the square solutions shown in the videos.
Watch on YouTube
Completing the square, write in the form (x + p)squared + q
Completing the square – write in the form (x + p)squared + q
Higher level completing the square, write in the form a(x + p)squared + q
Completing the square show in surd form – higher level
Completing the square show in surd form – higher level
I’ve split the videos into the ‘standard’ type questions – these are usually around grade 5 – 6, to the ‘harder’ questions, aimed at the even higher levels. While both types use a similar technique, the more challenging questions require confidence with fractions.
Here’s a link to the YouTube playlist with a number of additional examples.
Like a lot of the ‘topic by topic’ approach to maths ‘GCSE maths completing the square’ seems quite pointless initially … although it’s really just another way of solving quadratic equations. In fact, you are actually using the quadratic formula, just not the familiar one that you’re used to:
Completing the square is exactly the same as the quadratic formula – it’s just been swapped around a bit. There’s plenty of explanations that you can Google, although it’s a little outside the scope of 3minutemaths.co.uk.
You’ll probably work more with GCSE maths completing the square if you study higher level maths, although in the meantime, here’s a link to ‘what use is a quadratic equation.’
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