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Algebra/Hi I have a really hard factoring question

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Expert: - 9/21/2009


Question
I just failed a math test and need to know 18x^2 - 25x - 3 factored

Answer
The factors look like they need the quadratic equation to be found.

Here, a=18, b=-25, and c=-3.

The quadratic equation is (-b±√(b²-4ac))/(2a).

It can be seen that b²=625 and 4ac=-216, so the difference is 841.

That means the two solutions are (25±29)/36.
The answers are x = -4/36 = -1/9 abd x = 54/36 = 3/2.


If the factors were seen at the start, the problem is really factorable.
If it were 18x² - 25x - 3, the factors would be (9x+1)(2x-3).

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