Advanced MathVery hardSquared difference from sum and product
Advanced Math practice question
Two numbers have a sum of 9 and a product of 14. What is the square of their difference?
Answer: 25
(difference)² = (sum)² − 4 · (product) = 81 − 56 = 25. (The numbers are 7 and 2.)
Common wrong answers
- If you answered 5
- 5 is the difference itself (7 − 2); the question asks for its square.
- If you answered 53
- Subtract 4 · 14 = 56, not 2 · 14 = 28: the identity is (sum)² − 4(product).
- If you answered 81
- 81 is the square of the sum; subtract 4 times the product, 56.
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