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MA16-03 Maths Coming soon

Turning Point by Completing the Square

MA16-03

This lesson is coming soon.

In this lesson

Deduce the turning point of a quadratic function by completing the square first, correctly converting the completed-square form into turning-point coordinates.

What it covers

  • Using a quadratic already completed into the square (or completing it as the first step) to deduce the turning point's coordinates
  • The sign-flip rule: for y = (x+p)^2 + q, the turning point is at (-p, q), taught as a named, explicit trap
  • Defining the vocabulary term 'turning point' up front, since some non-attempts stem from not recognising the term rather than lacking the maths

Key words

For: AQA GCSE 8300, Edexcel GCSE 1MA1, Eduqas GCSE C300, OCR GCSE J560

On the specification

BoardSpecStatement
AQA GCSE 8300A11Identify and interpret roots, intercepts and turning points of quadratic functions graphically
Edexcel GCSE 1MA1A11Identify and interpret roots, intercepts, turning points of quadratic functions graphically; deduce roots algebraically
Eduqas GCSE C300HA11Identify and interpret roots, intercepts, turning points (stationary points) of quadratic functions graphically; deduce roots algebraically, turning points (stationary points) by completing the square
OCR GCSE J5607.01cRecognise and sketch the graphs of simple linear and quadratic functions.
For teachers

This GCSE Maths lesson teaches turning point by completing the square. By the end, students should be able to deduce the turning point of a quadratic function by completing the square first, correctly converting the completed-square form into turning-point coordinates. It works through two worked examples and the mistakes examiners report.