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Mathematics 15 Online
OpenStudy (barrelracer011):

Rewrite x^2 - 6x + 9 as a square of a linear expression.

jimthompson5910 (jim_thompson5910):

They want you to write that expression into the form (a+b)^2

OpenStudy (barrelracer011):

Ok how do I do that?

jimthompson5910 (jim_thompson5910):

What do you get when you factor x^2 - 6x + 9

OpenStudy (barrelracer011):

ummm idk I only really know how to do 4 term polynomial factoring

jimthompson5910 (jim_thompson5910):

find two numbers that multiply to 9 (last term) and add to -6 (middle coefficient)

OpenStudy (barrelracer011):

-3 and 3

OpenStudy (barrelracer011):

@jim_thompson5910

jimthompson5910 (jim_thompson5910):

close, but no

jimthompson5910 (jim_thompson5910):

-3 plus 3 = 0 when we want -6

jimthompson5910 (jim_thompson5910):

and -3 times 3 = -9 when we want +9

OpenStudy (barrelracer011):

its -3 and -3

jimthompson5910 (jim_thompson5910):

so that means x^2 - 6x + 9 factors to (x-3)(x-3)

jimthompson5910 (jim_thompson5910):

but (x-3)(x-3) is the same as (x-3)^2

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