Question

AP Math

Answer 1

The discriminant for a quadratic polynomial gives you information about the polynomial's roots.

Given $y=ax^2+bx+c$, the discriminant is given by $\Delta=b^2-4ac$.

There are three possible conclusions you can draw. If $\Delta>0$, then the quadratic has two distinct real roots. If $\Delta=0$, then there is one repeated real root. If $\Delta$, then there are two complex (non-real) roots.

Since you found $\Delta=72>0$, that means that $y$ has two distinct real roots.