Final answer:
To make the left side of the equation x² – 6x = 1 a perfect-square trinomial, one must add 9 to both sides. This transforms the equation into (x - 3)² = 10.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student is asking how to make the left side of the equation x² – 6x = 1 a perfect-square trinomial. To do this, we must add the square of half the coefficient of x to both sides. The coefficient of x is -6, so half of this is -3, and the square of -3 is 9. Therefore, we must add 9 to both sides of the equation to form a perfect-square trinomial.
The equation then becomes x² – 6x + 9 = 1 + 9, which simplifies to (x - 3)² = 10. This transformed equation now has a left side that is a perfect square, specifically the square of (x - 3).