Thread:HMcCoy/@comment-25501845-20160217140926/@comment-24808864-20160217164211

I did not see that second response, but that is DEFINITELY the right way to approach it, and also explains why the equation you were finding in your first post was so terrible!!!

The beginning statement you were given, with the square root, is not literally quadratic but is "quadratic in form" and the technique that you used (called substitution) has many elegant applications in calculus, particularly in the second semester.

The answer, being a radical, is why your form of the quadratic (with the nasty large numbers and painful approach) would have been too complicated to do in a reasonable amount of time!

Nice solution Balu!