Kurt's Responses in WyzAnt Answers

FOIL stands for First, Outer, Inner, Last...

First:  Multiply the x in the first factor by x in the second factor.  x * x = x^2.

Outer: Multiply the x in the first factor by the 6 in the second factor.  x * 6 = 6x.

Inner:  Multiply the 1 in the first factor by the x in the second factor.  1 * x = x.

Last:  Multiply the 1 in the first factor by the 6 in the second factor.  1 * 6 = 6.

So, our product is x^2 + 6x + x + 6.

After combining like terms, our final answer is x^2 + 7x + 6.

In proper scientific notation, there is only one digit to the left of the decimal point.  So...

0.000476 becomes 4.76 * 10^-4.  The first significant digit is 4, so the decimal point is placed immediately after it.  The decimal point moved four places to the right (smaller numbers) from its original location, so the exponent is -4.

3,400,000 becomes 3.4 * 10^6.  The first significant digit is 3, so the decimal point is placed immediately after it.  The decimal point moved six places to the left (larger numbers) from its original location, so the exponent is 6.

You could try the quadratic formula...

-b +/- SQRT (b^2 - 4ac)

------------------------------

              2a

-99 +/- SQRT (99^2 - 4*1*(-3870))

---------------------------------------------

                         2

-99 +/- SQRT (9801 + 15480)

-------------------------------------

                     2

-99 +/- SQRT (25281)

----------------------------

               2

-99 +/- 159

---------------

        2

So the roots are 30 and -129, and the factors are (x - 30) and (x + 129)

Let's say the smaller of the two numbers is x.  The larger of the two must be x + 22.

So, x + x + 22 = 2x + 22 = 84.

Subtract 22 from both sides to get 2x = 62.

Divided by 2 to get x = 31.

So the two numbers are 31 and 31 + 22 = 53.

Is W^3 part of the denominator?  In other words, is the problem (1 / W^4) - W^3 or 1 / (W^4 - W^3)?