Question

Write x2 - 8x + 13 = 0 in the form (x - a)2 = b, where a and b are integers.

Answer 1

Answer:

A.  (x - 4)² = 3

Step-by-step explanation:

You need to change the equation so that you can make a square.  To get a square, you need to analyze the terms.  

x² has a a coefficient of one, so you don't have to worry about that.

13 is going to be changed so that it can be a square.  

8x is what you should be looking at.  For a square, the middle term is the number multiplied by 2.  This means that the square was (x - 4)².  

A square, when expanded, has the square of the number as the last term.  This means that your last term should be 16.  You need to add 3 to both sides of the equation to make this true.

x² - 8x + 13 = 0

x² - 8x + 13 + 3 = 0 + 3

x² - 8x + 16 = 3

(x - 4)² = 3