One of the stuff needed to solve a quadratic equation by grouping is to split the middle term as a sum of two terms given the equation x^2 - 13x + 42 = 0, which two numbers would be needed to complete the step enter the lesser value first
To solve the quadratic equation x^2 - 13x + 42 = 0 by grouping, we need to split the middle term (-13x) as a sum of two terms.
We are looking for two numbers that multiply to give us the last term (42) and add up to give us the coefficient of the middle term (-13).
We can factorize 42 to get all its factor pairs:
1 x 42 = 42
2 x 21 = 42
3 x 14 = 42
6 x 7 = 42
Out of these factor pairs, the pair that adds up to -13 is 6 and 7.
Therefore, we can split -13x as -6x - 7x.
The expression can now be rewritten as:
x^2 - 6x - 7x + 42 = 0
Hope this helps!