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WAEC SSCE - Further Mathematics - 2010 (Objective)

Question 1 Report

If (x - 3) is a factor of \(2x^{2} - 2x + p\), find the value of constant p.

Answer Details
If (x-3) is a factor of the quadratic expression, then the expression can be factored into the form: $$(x - 3)(ax + b)$$ where a and b are constants. Multiplying out the brackets gives: $$2x^{2} - 2x + p = (x - 3)(ax + b) = ax^{2} + (b - 3a)x - 3b$$ Since the coefficients of the quadratic expression are equal to those of the factored expression, we can equate the corresponding coefficients to get a system of equations: $$a = 2$$ $$b - 3a = -2$$ $$-3b = p$$ Solving these equations simultaneously, we get: $$a = 2, b = 3a - 2 = 4, p = -3b = -12$$ Therefore, the constant p is -12.