The product of two numbers whose difference is 25.
I'm not looking for a pair of numbers, I need the equation, apparently x^2-25 was wrong.

Question

The product of two numbers whose difference is 25. 
I'm not looking for a pair of numbers, I need the equation, apparently x^2-25 was wrong.

anonymous · Answer

xy
x-y=25 --> y=x-25
so the product is
P = xy = x(x-25) = x^2 - 25x

masterchief · Answer

Yes that was one of the choices on the handout, but I don't understand why the constant needed a variable too?

mertsj · Answer

If the difference of two numbers is 25, we can write x-y=25.
That means that y is x-25
So the two numbers are x and x-25
The product of x and x-25 is x(x-25)
Using the distributive property we have x^2-25x

masterchief · Answer

Ok then, thank you both

mertsj · Answer

yw