Find value of determinant. The determinant is a term that is inside a square root and part of the quadratic formula used for solving quadratic equations. Let determinant be 'd'. If d >0, Then there are 2 real solutions If d = 0, Then there is only 1 real solutions If d < 0, Then there are 0 real solutions but 2 imaginary solutions
d = b^2 - 4ac
For this problem, the coefficients are: a = 1, b = -3, c = 8
d = (-3)^2 - 4(1)(8)
d = 9 -32 = -23
d is less than 0, therefore there are 0 real solutions and 2 imaginary solutions.
This is true because you cannot take square root of a negative number.