Solve (x+1)(x-3)(x+7)(-7)=0: Finding All Solutions Using Zero Product Property

Question

Solve the following equation:

(x+1)(x3)(x+7)(7)=0 (x+1)(x-3)(x+7)(-7)=0

Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

Let's solve the following equation:

7(x+1)(x3)(x+7)=0 -7(x+1)(x-3)(x+7)=0

First, let's divide both sides of the equation by the number outside of the parentheses:

7(x+1)(x3)(x+7)=0/:(7)(x+1)(x3)(x+7)=0 -7(x+1)(x-3)(x+7)=0 \hspace{6pt}\text{/}:(-7)\\ (x+1)(x-3)(x+7)=0

Remember that the product of an expression equals 0 only if at least one of the multiplying expressions equals zero,

Therefore we should obtain three simple equations and solve them by isolating the variable in each one:

x+1=0x=1 x+1=0\\ \boxed{x=-1} or:

x3=0x=3 x-3=0\\ \boxed{x=3} or:

x+7=0x=7 x+7=0\\ \boxed{x=-7} Hence the solution to the equation is:

x=1,37 \boxed{x=-1,3-7} The correct answer is answer D.

Answer

1,3,7,7 -1,3,-7,7