How do you complete the square to solve x^2+6x=7?

1 Answer
May 31, 2015

x^2 + 6x = 7
To write the Left Hand Side as a Perfect Square, we add 9 to both sides
x^2 + 6x + 9= 7+ 9
x^2 + 2*3*x + 3^2 = 16
Using the Identity color(blue)((a+b)^2 = a^2 + 2ab + b^2, we get
(x+3)^2 = 16
x + 3 = +sqrt16 or x +3 = -sqrt16
x =4-3or x = -4 - 3
color(green)(x = 1 or color(green)(x = -7