Question

Delaware was the first state to enter the Union and Hawaii was the 50th. If we order the positions of entry for the rest of the states, we find that State A entered the Union right after State B, and the product of their order-of-entry numbers is 132. Use the given information to complete each statement. State A was the th state to enter the Union. State B was the th state to enter the Union.

Answer 1

State A was the 12th state to enter the Union. State B was the 11th state to enter the Union.

Explanation:

Let's call x to the order-of-entry of State B, therefore the order-of-entry of State A is x+1. Given that he product of their order-of-entry numbers is 132:

x*(x+1) = 132

x² + x - 132 = 0

Using quadratic formula:

`x = (-b \pm √(b^2 -4(a)(c)))/(2(a))`

`x = (-1 \pm √(1^2 -4(1)(-132)))/(2(1))`

`x = (-1 \pm 23)/(2)`

`x_1 = (-1 + 23)/(2)`

`x_1 = 11`

`x_2 = (-1 - 23)/(2)`

`x_2 = -12`

The negative solution has no sense in the context of our problem, then the solution is x = 11.