Question

What is the missing constant term in the perfect square that starts with

x2−16xx^2-16x
x
2
−16x
x, squared, minus, 16, x
?

Answer 1

The answer is 64

Explanation:

I got it right on khan academy;)

Answer 2

The missing constant is 64.

Explanation:

The general form of a perfect square for the difference between two numbers is:

`(a-b)^(2)=a^(2)+2a(-b)+b^(2)`

The expression provided is:

`x^(2)-16x+\_\_`

Let the missing constant be denoted as a.

Compute the missing value as follows:

`(x-a)^(2)=x^(2)-16x+a^(2)\\`

`x^(2)+(2* x* -a)+a^(2)=x^(2)-16x+a^(2)`

`-2ax=-16x\\`

`2a=16`

`a=8`

The complete expression is:

`x^(2)-16x+\_\_=x^(2)-16x+64`

Thus, the missing constant is 64.