141k views
2 votes
a student was given the equation x^2+6x-13=0 the next step in the students process was x^2+6x+c=13+c state the value of c that creates a perfect square trinomial explain how the value of c is determined

User Boy Pasmo
by
8.7k points

1 Answer

4 votes
This is the process of completing the square.
Keep this equation in mind:
ax^2+bx+c
Basically, to make this a perfect square trinomial, you take half of b and square that value. This will make it so you can compress the left side of the equation into
(x+b)^2 \ or \ (x-b)^2 depending on the sign in the middle of the original equation.
User Tomerikoo
by
9.0k points