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45 votes
45 votes
I'm struggling with this question on quadratic equations and would like somebody to explain it to me. Thank you!

I'm struggling with this question on quadratic equations and would like somebody to-example-1
User Augustin
by
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1 Answer

10 votes
10 votes

Hello, sorry for taking half an hour to respond.

a) If x represents the number of students in her class, we have :

The cost of a calculator on website C : 480 : x
The cost of a calculator on website D : 480 : (x+4)

b) We call the price of a calculator on website C as a, and the price on website D is a-6
Let's also call the amount of calculators if we buy on website C as d, and the amount of calculators if we buy on website D as d + 4

We have :

a.d = (a-6)(d+4)
Break the brackets out : ad = ad-6d + 4a - 24
=> -6d + 4a - 24 = 0
Divide both sides by 2
=> -3d + 2a - 12 = 0

=> 2a = 3d + 12

So, d is divisible by 3, and a is divisible by 2 => ad is divisible by 6.

And ad x the amount of students = 480

So, we can conclude that the amount of students is a factor of 80

Let's list out all of them : 1,2,4,5,8,10,16,20,40,80.

If there was 20 students :

The price of each calculator would be : 480 : 20 = 24

If it's 6 cheaper, it would be 24-6 = 18

And she would've gotten 480 : 18 (not divisible)

If you keep replacing like that, you'll eventually get the answer. I don't have time left, so the answer is 16 students. Hope it helps.



User Holmes Conan
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3.4k points