Jerry skipped some steps and made and error in his solution. Explain the error in Jerry's solution below. Give the correct solution(s).

x\left( {x + 6} ight) = - 5

x = - 5 \begin{array}{l}x + 6 = - 5\x = - 11\end{array}

Question

Jerry skipped some steps and made and error in his solution.  Explain the error in Jerry's solution below.  Give the correct solution(s).

x\left( {x + 6} ight) = - 5

x = - 5            \begin{array}{l}x + 6 = - 5\x = - 11\end{array}

misty1212 · Answer

$$x\left( {x + 6} \right) = - 5
$$

misty1212 · Answer

just trying to figure out what you wrote

misty1212 · Answer

$$x(x+6)=-5\
x=-5\
x+6=-5, x=-11$$ something like that?

anonymous · Answer

yes

misty1212 · Answer

the error is that if $x(x+6)=-5$ then it does not follow that one of those factors is $-5$ 
we can only use that if it is set equal to zero i.e. if the product of two factors are zero, one of the factors must be zero