jr.heiberg wrote:Show that if x1 and x2 are real solutions of x2+bx+c=0, then x1+x2=-b and x1x2=c.
(In the equation x2+bx..., 2 is squared for x. All the other x1 and x2 are just the names of the x's).
Great if somebody could crack this nut!
I am not 100% confident about this, but:
Show that if [tex]x_1[/tex] and [tex]x_2[/tex] are real solutions of [tex]x^2 +bx +c = 0[/tex]
Then [tex]x_1 + x_2 = -b[/tex]
And [tex]x_1 \cdot x_2 = c[/tex]
In that case;
[tex](x+x_1)(x+x_2) = 0[/tex]
As you can see, the product of [tex]x_1[/tex] and [tex]x_2[/tex] equals [tex]c[/tex]
In addition, we can set x=1, factor it out like this:
[tex](1+x_1)(1+x_2) = 1 + (x_2 +x_1) + x_1x_2 [/tex]
If we only take the expression within the parenthesis into consideration, we have: [tex]x_2+x_1[/tex] which is b.
Was this solution satisfying enough, or would you like me to elaborate on it?