Question

I don't understand math at all. Please help!! Can you break this problem down step by step?

x squared plus 4X minus 8 equals 5

Answer 1

x² + 4x - 8 = 5

This is a simple quadratic equation. Let's move everything to the left side to start:
x² + 4x - 8 - 5 = 5 - 5

Now we have:
x² + 4x - 13 = 0

In a quadratic equation, x = $\frac{-b +- \sqrt{b^{2} -4ac} }{2a}$

Therefore, we plug in a = 1, b = 4, and c = -13, and we find that x = -2 - sqrt{17} OR -2 + sqrt{17}.