WAEC SSCE - General Mathematics - 2015 (Objective)

Question 1 Report

Adding 42 to a given positive number gives the same result as squaring the number. Find the number

Answer Details

Let's call the unknown number "x". According to the problem, adding 42 to x gives the same result as squaring x. We can write this as an equation: x + 42 = x^2 To solve for x, we can rearrange this equation to get it in standard quadratic form: x^2 - x - 42 = 0 Now we can factor this quadratic equation: (x - 7)(x + 6) = 0 This gives us two possible solutions: x = 7 and x = -6. However, we were given that x is a positive number, so we can discard the negative solution. Therefore, the answer is x = 7. To check our answer, we can substitute x = 7 into the original equation: 7 + 42 = 49 7^2 = 49 So adding 42 to 7 does indeed give the same result as squaring 7.






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