Question

Using the Identities, simplify the following

$(x+0.02)(x-3.5)$

Answer 1

Step 1 : We need to identify the identity first, the question is in the form of $(x+a)(x+b)$ which is equal to $x^2+(a+b)x+ab$

so if we compare the question with the identity we get $a=0.02andb=-3.5$

Step 2 : Applying the formula

$$\begin{gathered} (x+0.02)(x-3.5)=x^2+(0.02-3.5)x+[0.02\times (-3.5\left)\right] \\ =x^2-3.48x-0.07 \end{gathered}$$

Hence the solution is $x^2-3.48x-0.07$