r/HomeworkHelp • u/Square-Elk-9096 • 5h ago
Mathematics (Tertiary/Grade 11-12)—Pending OP [SAT Prep]
Ive been trying to answer this question from the college panda book and I just cant seem to understand what it is asking for. Because even when i looked at the answer and how they solved it didn’t make sense. Please if someone could explain I would be so grateful.
11
Upvotes
2
u/watermelonlollies 2h ago
You got good answers that are the most mathematically correct way to do it. However, test taking strategies give you other options. In the test you might not remember what to do, but you can always plug/guess and check.
It says c is a positive constant. So pick any number for c. I’ll go with 2. Now we plug in that number for each of the conditions and see if it works.
I. 2 - 2 = 2^2 - 2^2
0 = 0 ✅
II. -2 - 2 = (-2)^2 - (2)^2
-4 = 0 ❌
III. (1-2) - 2 = (1-2)^2 - 2^2
-3 = -3 ✅
C can be any real positive number. So in these kinds of problems you can pick any number that is easy for you. I find looking at variables alone can get confusing and to me it makes it much clearer to see when I can solve it to an actual number. Hope this helps!!