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Suppose we have the equation m² - 3m = 25n² - 15n, where m and n are natural numbers. What is the value of m ÷ n?

A) m ÷ n = 5
B) m ÷ n = 15
C) m ÷ n = 3
D) m ÷ n = 25

User Gagandeep
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

The equation given suggests m and n are multiples of 5. Factoring the equation and substituting m = 5k and n = k (where k is a natural number) indicates m ÷ n = 5k ÷ k which simplifies to 5. Hence, m ÷ n = 5.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student is asking to find the value of m ÷ n from the equation m² - 3m = 25n² - 15n, where m and n are natural numbers. First, we can isolate the terms involving m and n respectively, by placing all terms involving m on one side of the equation and all terms involving n on the other side:

m² - 3m + 0 = 25n² - 15n

We notice that the equation can be factored to take the form:

m(m - 3) = 25n(n - 3)

For this equation to hold true for natural number values of m and n, it is necessary that m and n are multiples of 5, and in particular, we can see that m = 5k and n = k where k is a natural number. This gives us:

(5k)^2 - 3(5k) = 25(k^2) - 15k

Simplifying both sides leads us to:

25k^2 - 15k = 25k^2 - 15k

Since the terms are now identical, the equation is true for all values of k, and thus for all corresponding values of m and n. We then calculate the ratio m ÷ n = (5k) ÷ k, which simplifies to:

5

So, the answer to the student's question is A) m ÷ n = 5.

User Neil Hoff
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