How to complete the square? (Basic form)

Many students always forget how to do "completing the square" questions whenever they come across it for E-Math. Even Secondary 4 students don't exactly remember how to complete the square! Are you experiencing this problem too?

Note: Completing The Square is a VERY important concept because it will definitely be tested in EVERY EXAM! So it’s a must to know!

There may be different variations to solving it, however, I have found an easier and simpler method to complete the square and I am going to share with you how COMPLETING THE SQUARE can be simple and EASY!

STEP 1: ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS FORMAT

The first thing to take note is the coefficient of x2 must be 1. It MUST ALWAYS be 1.

Next, remember that the ones I write in “blue” and “red” are ALWAYS FIXED.

STEP 2: BRING DOWN THE X AND COEFFICIENTS

Bringing down only the x without the square, copy the “+” sign, bring down the 4 (numerator) to be above the 2 (denominator) and copy - 8 outside the bracket.

STEP 3: BRING DOWN THE LAST TERM AND SIMPLIFY

After bringing down the coefficient of x, simplify the one i highlighted in yellow.

And after 3 simple steps, simplify the equation and completing the square is done!

There you have it! Expressed in Completing the Square form:

Now that you learned how to express the equation into the basic completing the square form, why not take a step further to learn how to express the equation in advanced form