eighty decreased by three times a number is the same as five times the number increased by eight find the number

x^2 + 81

we can factor this using difference of square binomials.

rewrite the equation:

x^2 - (-81)

factor:

(a^2 - b^2) = (√a^2 + √b^2)(√a^2 - √b^2)

(x^2 - (-81) = (x + √-81)(x - √-81)

we can remove the - from under the radical by multiplying it by i.

(x^2 - (-81) = (x + i√81)(x - i√81)

(x^2 - (-81) = (x + 9i)(x - 9i)

we can check our answer by using foil:

x^2 - 9ix + 9ix - 81i^2

x^2 - 81^2

i^2 = -1

x^2 + 81

we can set up an equation to find the girls' ages. the equation is         28=0.5x-5+x. (comment if you need me to explain how i got this equation.) so, you add x and 0.5x to get 1.5x and add 5 to each side. your new equation is 33=1.5x. now divide both sides of the equation by 1.5 to get 22=x. because x is mary's age, to find jasmine's age we subtract mary's age from 28. we find that mary is 22 years old and jasmine is 6 years old.