Question

Solving Quadratic Equations By Factoring.
(x-1)(x+7)=0
x=?

Answer 1

it is already factored

Answer 2

here is a good way of looking at it

A*B=0
(x-1)*B=0
x-1=0 would make 0*B=0 no matter what B holds
Answer x=1

And

A*(x+7) =0
x+7=0 would be A*0=0 no matter what A holds
x=-7

as you can see

solutions are 1 and -7

Answer 3

oh yea that does make sense, thanks

Answer 4

OH in general

(x-a)(x-b)(x-c)(x-d)... and so on

a, b, c, d... are the solutions. The trick is to get it that way tho :P

Answer 5

thanks for the trick, but i would have too answer it like this (x+1) and (x-7). is it saying we basically answer the positive to negative and negative to positive?

Answer 6

You could look at it like that. Here are examples
x+a=0 -a would be the answer
x-a =0 a would be the answer
x-1=0 1 would be the answer

x+1=0 -1 would be the answer

Answer 7

yes, because x is also 1

Answer 8

Yup