Thread: Determine the value of a

Given that (3x-a)(x-2)=3x^3-32x^2+81x-70, determine the value of a. My answer was 3 but not if it is right. thanks for any help with this one.

Hello, kwtolley!

Obviously, there is a typo in the problem . . .

Given that , determine the value of

The left side is a quadratic
. . and cannot possibly equal the cubic on the right.

Originally Posted by kwtolley

Given that , determine the value of a. My answer was 3 but not if it is right. thanks for any help with this one.

It is possible to solve in terms of but this number would not be a constant, is that what you're looking for or is there a typo in the way you wrote the problem?

Given that (3x-a)(x-2)(x-7)=3x^3-32x^2+81x-70, determine the value of a. My answer is 3 is that right. Thanks again for checking with me.

Hello, kwtolley!

You blew it again: that's 87x . . .

Given that , determine the value of .

Multiply out the left side:
. .

Two polynomials are equal if their corresponding coefficients are equal.

So we have:


And the solution is: .