Hi, there-- THE PROBLEM: How do I find a? 6a(11a+5)=0 I use distrib prop and stuck. 66a^2 + 30a=0 A SOLUTION: Using the distributive property is a useful strategy when you wan to simplify an equation. In this case, you want to solve for a. What you have here is a quadratic equation in factored form. I would leave it factored because it will be easy to find a in this form. Notice that you are multiplying two terms together, 6a and 11a+5. Their product is zero. The interesting thing about zero, is that if it is the product, then one of those two factors must equal 0. (Because zero times anything is zero.) So we have two possibilities: either 6a = 0 or 11a + 5 = 0. We just need to solve for these two possibilities and we will know what a can be. If 6a = 0, then a = 0 because 6 * 0 = 0. If 11a + 5 = 0, then we simplify 11a = -5 a = -5/11 So for your equation, a = 0 or a = -5/11. Both values will make the equation true. Let's check to make sure: For a = 0 -------- 6a(11a + 5) = 0 6(0)(11(0) + 5) = 0 (0)(5) = 0 0 = 0 Check! For a = -5/11 ------------ 6a(11a + 5) = 0 6(-5/11)(11(-5/11) + 5) = 0 (-30/11)(-5 + 5) = 0 (-30/11)(0) = 0 0 = 0 Check! Hope this helps! Feel free to email if you have any questions about the solution. Good luck with your math, Mrs. F math.in.the.vortex@gmail.com