Masha has a quadratic of the form x^2 + bx + 1, where b is a specific positive number. Using her knowledge of how to complete the square, Masha is able to rewrite this quadratic in the form (x+m)^2 - 63. What is b?
Masha has a quadratic of the form x^2 + bx + 1, where b is a specific positive number. Using her knowledge of how to complete the square, Masha is able to rewrite this quadratic in the form (x+m)^2 - 63. What is b?
x^2 + bx + b^2/4 + 1 - b^2/4
(x + b/2)^2 + 1 - b^2/4
And
(x + b/2)^2 - 63
This implies that
+1 - b^2/4 = -63 rearrange as
64 = b^2/4 multiply both sides by 4
256 = b^2 take the positive root
16 = b