WHAT?????

Brenda planted 52 pepper plants in equal rows. The number of rows was 9 more than the number of plants in each row. How many pepper plants did Brenda put in each row?

Let number of plants in each row=P, then we have:

P + 9=number of rows, but we have:

(P + 9) X P=52

P^2 + 9P=52

So the number of plants in each row is: P=4  and number of rows: =4 + 9=13

Solve for P:
P^2+9 P = 52

Add 81/4 to both sides:
P^2+9 P+81/4 = 289/4

Write the left hand side as a square:
(P+9/2)^2 = 289/4

Take the square root of both sides:
P+9/2 = 17/2 or P+9/2 = -17/2

Subtract 9/2 from both sides:
P = 4 or P+9/2 = -17/2

Subtract 9/2 from both sides:
Answer: |  P = 4                                             or P = -13 we discard this.
 

Let the number of plants in each row = x.........then, the number of rows was 9 more  = x + 9

And the number of plants in each row times the number of rows  = 52

x(x + 9) = 52

x^2 + 9x  = 52      subtract 52 from each side

x^2 + 9x - 52  = 0      factor

(x + 13) ( x - 4)  = 0 

Only the second factor produces a positive result when set to 0.....so   .....x = 4  .....and this is the number of plants in each row