I need some help with the following problems:

  1. Show that the product of the solutions of ax2 + bx + c = 0 is c/a.

  2. For each equation under the given condition, (a) find k and
    (b) find the other solution.     kx2 - 2x + k = 0; one solution is -3
Hi,

For question 1 first divide both sides by a to get

x2 + b/ax + c/a = 0 Suppose that the solutions are p and q, then x2 + b/ax + c/a = (x - p)(x - q) = 0 Multiply (x - p)(x - q) to find p times q.

For question 2, use what you know from question 1. The product of the sulutions is c/a and in this equation a = c = k. Thus the product of the solutions is  k/k = 1.

Cheers,
Penny
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