
04-13-2008, 08:25 PM
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"I can't afford to hate anyone. I don't have that kind of time."
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Re: Let's talk Quadratic Equations
The order of the positives/negatives doesn't matter.
As for which one is positive/negative, that depends how you're factoring it.
If your equation was, say x^2+5-45 = 0 then you'd do it like this. (The 2x is a needless complication at this point, also, I'm assuming you mean x^2, not just x and that you meant -4x, not just -4.)
You need to find two numbers that add to 4, but multiply to -30.
In this case, those numbers are 9 and -5.
So, when you make your factors, you simply put the numbers into the brackets.
So, that equation factored is (x+9)(x-5).
If you aren't sure of your answer then it's easy enough to check, just multiply those brackets out.
x*x = x^2
x*-5 = -5x
-9*x = 9x
9*-5 = -45
Put those together and you get: x^2 -5x + 9x -45 = 0
Simplify that a bit, and you get: x^2 +4x - 45 = 0.
Since that equals the equation you started with it's factored correctly.
__________________
"Science is the poetry of reality" ~ Richard Dawkins
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