which of the following is a complete set of solutions to 3x^3+9x^2−54x=0 ?

1 answer

To solve the equation \(3x^3 + 9x^2 - 54x = 0\), we can start by factoring out the greatest common factor (GCF).

  1. First, factor out the GCF which is \(3x\):

\[ 3x(x^2 + 3x - 18) = 0 \]

  1. Now we have a product of factors equal to zero, so we can set each factor to zero:

\[ 3x = 0 \quad \text{or} \quad x^2 + 3x - 18 = 0 \]

  1. From the first factor: \[ 3x = 0 \implies x = 0 \]

  2. Now, we need to solve the quadratic equation \(x^2 + 3x - 18 = 0\). We can use the quadratic formula:

\[ x = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a} \] where \(a = 1\), \(b = 3\), and \(c = -18\).

  1. Calculate the discriminant:

\[ b^2 - 4ac = 3^2 - 4 \cdot 1 \cdot (-18) = 9 + 72 = 81 \]

  1. Now apply the quadratic formula:

\[ x = \frac{-3 \pm \sqrt{81}}{2 \cdot 1} = \frac{-3 \pm 9}{2} \]

  1. This gives us two solutions:

\[ x = \frac{6}{2} = 3 \quad \text{and} \quad x = \frac{-12}{2} = -6 \]

  1. Therefore, the complete set of solutions to the equation \(3x^3 + 9x^2 - 54x = 0\) is:

\[ x = 0, \quad x = 3, \quad x = -6 \]

So the complete set of solutions is: \[ { 0, 3, -6 } \]