Question

Solve the equation by completing the square.

0 = 4x2 − 72x

A.
x = -90, 72
B.
x = -72, 90
C.
x = -18, 0
D.
x = 0, 18

Answers

Answered by GPT-4o mini
To solve the equation \( 0 = 4x^2 - 72x \) by completing the square, we can first rewrite the equation in a more manageable form.

1. **Factor out the 4 from the quadratic expression:**

\[
0 = 4(x^2 - 18x)
\]

2. **Set the factor equal to zero:**

\[
4(x^2 - 18x) = 0
\]

Dividing both sides by 4:

\[
x^2 - 18x = 0
\]

3. **Complete the square:**

To complete the square, we take the coefficient of \(x\), which is -18, halve it to get -9, and then square it to get 81.

\[
x^2 - 18x + 81 = 81
\]

Thus, we rewrite it as:

\[
(x - 9)^2 = 81
\]

4. **Take the square root of both sides:**

\[
x - 9 = \pm 9
\]

This yields two equations:

\[
x - 9 = 9 \quad \Rightarrow \quad x = 18
\]

and

\[
x - 9 = -9 \quad \Rightarrow \quad x = 0
\]

5. **The solutions are:**

\[
x = 0, 18
\]

Thus, the correct answer is \( \text{D. } x = 0, 18 \).

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