How do you solve the following equation

x2 - 5x = 14

x2 - 5 x - 14 = 0

(x - 7) (x + 2) = 0

x = 7 or x = -2

How do I explain this to my son who was not taught this way???

1 answer

How about asking him to give you two numbers which when multiplied will give you zero.
He would have to admit that one of them has to be zero.

Now point out that is exactly what your second last line in your solution says

You might want to put in the extra line of

therefore x-7 = 0 or x+2 = 0
then x = 7 or x = -2

(are they using the quadratic formula exclusively to solve a quadratic?)
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