[lit-ideas] Re: Don't Laugh (Math)
- From: "Peter D. Junger" <junger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2006 18:17:47 -0400
Erin Holder writes:
: OK, who can explain to me how to solve this:
:
: If x^2+2xy+y^2 = 9 then (x+y)^4 = ?
:
: I know the answer is "81", I just don't know how to get it. It's starting to
:
: frustrate me. I haven't done this stuff in almost ten years, and I can't for
:
: the life of me remember how to go about it (although I seem to be getting the
:
: hang of some of the other ones...?)
A better way to solve and remember how to solve the problem may be to
realize that if you factor x^2+2x+y^2 you get (x+y)(x+y) which
equals (x+y)^2 which you are told equals 9. Now the square of
(x+y)^2 is (x+y)^4 which equals 9^2 which equals 81.
It's hard to do this stuff in ASCII.
Good luck,
Peter
--
Peter D. Junger--Case Western Reserve University Law School--Cleveland, OH
EMAIL: junger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx URL: http://samsara.law.cwru.edu
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