How do you solve v214v=49?

1 Answer
Jun 27, 2015

First add 49 to both sides to get:

v214v+49=0

Now

v214v+49=(v7)2

So the solution is v=7.

Explanation:

Having added 49 to both sides of the equation we have

v214v+49=0

Notice that 49=72 and 14=27, so this is a perfect square trinomial:

v214v+49

=v2(2v7)+72

=(v7)(v7)

=(v7)2

So this is zero when v=7

Perfect square trinomials are of the form:

a2+2ab+b2=(a+b)2

In our case a=v and b=7

If you see a quadratic with first and last terms being square, check the middle term to see if it's a perfect square trinomial.