If a is a solution of the equation above and , what is the value of a ?
The correct answer is 3. The solution to the given equation can be found by factoring the quadratic expression. The factors can be determined by finding two numbers with a sum of 1 and a product of . The two numbers that meet these constraints are 4 and
. Therefore, the given equation can be rewritten as
. It follows that the solutions to the equation are
or
. Since it is given that
, a must equal 3.