Can someone me work out this a and b

see explanation

Step-by-step explanation:

(a) (i)

x² - 9 ← is a difference of squares and factors as

(x - 3)(x + 3)

(ii)

given x² + x - 12

Consider the factors of the constant term (- 12) which sum to give the coefficient of the x- term (+ 1)

The factors are + 4 and - 3, since

4 × - 3 = - 12 and 4 - 3 = + 1, hence

x² + x - 12 = (x + 4)(x - 3)

(iii)

Express the numerator/ denominator in factored form

=

Cancel the (x - 3) factor on the numerator/denominator, leaving

= with restriction x ≠ - 4

(b)

Expand the second pair of factors using FOIL

= (x + 2)(x² + 5x - 3x - 15)

= (x + 2)(x² + 2x - 15)

Multiply each term in the second factor by each term in the first factor

x(x² + 2x - 15) + 2(x² + 2x - 15) ← distribute both parenthesis

= x³ + 2x² - 15x + 2x² + 4x - 30 ← collect like terms

= x³ + 4x² - 11x - 30

Compare like terms with x³ + ax² - 11x + b

ax² with 4x² ⇒ a = 4

b with - 30 ⇒ b = - 30

stew reads at the fastest rate of 265 words per minute.

step-by-step explanation:

it's a given that felicia reads at 260 word per minute and on connie's graph we can see that she reads 200 words per minute. since stew's table tells us that he read 795 in 3 minutes, we can divide 795 by 3 to find out how many words he reads per minute.

795/3 = 265

stew reads 265 words per minute - he reads at the fastest rate since felecia reads at 260 words per minute and connie reads at 200 words per minute.

stew (265) > felecia (260) > connie (200)

they used 313 gallons of paint