what is the discriminant of an equation
The Discriminant. In the quadratic formula, the expression under the square root sign, b 2 â 4 ac, is called the discriminant. The sign of the discriminant can be used to find the number of solutions of the corresponding quadratic equation, ax 2 + bx + c = 0.If the discriminant b 2 â 4 ac is negative, then there are no real solutions of the equation.f the discriminant is positive, then the Â± symbol means you get two answers. The solutions of this equation correspond to the x-intercepts of the parabola. y = ax 2 + bx + c. So, you can also use the discriminant to find the number of x-intercepts of a parabola.