Academic Subjects
Math
Algebra
Quadratic Equations
Complete Trinomial 4x2 + __x + 81

What value is needed to fill in the blank to make this a perfect square trinomial 4x2 + __x + 81?



To find the middle term, we want to use the generic quadratic equation as template

a2 + 2ab + b2

4x2 + ____x + 81

to find the value of a and b, we want to take the square root of each

4x2 = 2x         81 = 9

2ab = 2(2x)(9) = 36x

4x2 + 36x + 81


The middle term is 36x