document.write( "Question 285345: im a little confused as to what to do with the exponent in this situation. My teacher taught us in class but now that im home my mind went blank. The answer i came up with is -1. But the answers that were provided on this site are -2 and -4. Here is the problem: x^2 + 6x + 8 = 0 Here's what i did: x*x+6x+8=0 2x+6x+8=0 8x+8=0 8x=-8 x=-1...Someone just sent me an answer that just said factor (x+4)(x+2)=0....I'm even more confused now...IS THERE ANYONE THAT CAN BREAK THIS PROBLEM DOWN FOR ME STEP BY STEP PLEASE...THANK YOU!! \n" ); document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #206865 by jim_thompson5910(35256)![]() ![]() ![]() You can put this solution on YOUR website! You made an error in thinking that \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "There are two ways to solve this problem.\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "# 1 Factoring\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "First factor \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Looking at the expression \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Now multiply the first coefficient \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Now the question is: what two whole numbers multiply to \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "To find these two numbers, we need to list all of the factors of \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Factors of \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "1,2,4,8\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "-1,-2,-4,-8\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Note: list the negative of each factor. This will allow us to find all possible combinations.\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "These factors pair up and multiply to \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "1*8 = 8 \n" ); document.write( "2*4 = 8 \n" ); document.write( "(-1)*(-8) = 8 \n" ); document.write( "(-2)*(-4) = 8\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Now let's add up each pair of factors to see if one pair adds to the middle coefficient \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "
\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "From the table, we can see that the two numbers \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "So the two numbers \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Now replace the middle term \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "So \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Since \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "So we've gone from \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Now remember that if AB = 0 (A times B equals zero), then either A=0, B=0 or both are equal to zero. This is the zero product property.\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "So use the zero product property to break \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Now solve each equation to get \r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "So the two solutions are \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "============================================================\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Method # 2: Quadratic Formula\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Notice that the quadratic \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Let's use the quadratic formula to solve for \"x\":\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "So the solutions are \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "Note: the order of the solutions does not matter. \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " |