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3 votes
How do you find the missing number of a perfect square trinomial?

25x^2 - 60x + ___

User InGeek
by
8.2k points

1 Answer

5 votes

Answer:

36

Explanation:

Compare what you have to the square ...

(a +b)^2 = a^2 +2ab +b^2

Your "a" is √(25x^2) = 5x

Your "2ab" is -60x. Since you know "a", you can find "b".

2ab = -60x

2(5x)b = -60x . . . . . . . substitute for "a"

b = -60x/(10x) = -6

Then the missing term is b^2 = (-6)^2 = 36.

Your trinomial is ...

25x^2 -60x +36

User Maxiss
by
7.4k points

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