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SmokeyBrown:
This is a nice example problem, because it's simple to see that 20+20 = 40 and that 20*20 = 400. Based on this insight, we can reason almost intuitively that the perfect square of c^2+40c+400 would be
(c + 20)
We can even check our work by multiplying (c+20) * (c+20) in order to get the result
c^2 + 40c + 400
thatkid101:
so c+20^2
SmokeyBrown:
In a more general case, if there exists a perfect square for a polynomial in the form
ax^2 + bx + c,
the perfect square will take the form
(dx + e)
such that
d*d = a;
de + de = b;
and
e*e = c.
In this case, the perfect square of c^2 + 40c + 400 is (c + 20) because
1*1 = 1
1*20 + 1*20 = 40
and
20 * 20 = 400
You could also check the work by performing (c+20)^2 or (c+20) * (c+20), of course
SmokeyBrown:
@thatkid101 wrote:
so c+20^2
And it is important to distinguish (c+20)^2 rather than c+20^2;
The first will get you the result you want, c^2 + 40c + 400;
The second will get you c+400, since that notation only squares the 20 by itself
thatkid101:
this hurts my brain ;-;
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SmokeyBrown:
@thatkid101 wrote:
this hurts my brain ;-;
I may have used too many different letters in my explanation. That certainly didn't make it easy to keep track of what I tried to communicate.
We can work through it in a more straightforward way by simply performing the multiplication:
(c+20) * (c+20)
This can also be rewritten as c*(c+20) + 20*(c+20), according to the distributive property, if that makes it easier to visualize.
The result is:
c^2 + 20c + 20c + 400, which resolves to
c^2 + 40c +400
So, we've shown that we can multiply (c+20) by itself in order to get our original polynomial. By definition, that means (c+20) is a perfect square of the original polynomial (or maybe vice-versa?)
In any case, I hope this helps demonstrate the point I was trying to make. Please let me know if you have any questions :)
thatkid101:
could u help me with some other questions ?
Frostsoldier101:
ok
Frostsoldier101:
wait who
thatkid101:
either or idc who
i just need help
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Frostsoldier101:
ok me
thatkid101:
factor the perfect square trinomial. 9m^2-42m+49
Frostsoldier101:
(a+b)2=a2+2ab+b2.
SmokeyBrown:
@frostsoldier101 wrote:
(a+b)2=a2+2ab+b2.
A much better way to communicate what I tried to in my own convoluted way up top :)
Frostsoldier101:
lol
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