Paper towels are sold in boxes of 6 rolls. Each roll is a cylinder with a height of 30cm and an outer diameter of 12 cm. If the inner diameter of each roll is 4 cm,
how much wasted space is there in the box? (Assume the box is made to just fit
the paper towels).

step-by-step explanation:

equation

you are asked to write the equation

  expression = 0

using the given expression. when you do that, you have

  2x^2-2x-12 = 0

factoring

you can see that each of the coefficients is even, so a factor of 2 can be removed immediately.

  2(x^2 -x -6) = 0

if you multiply the binomials (x+a)(x+b), you get

  (x +a)(x +b) = x^2 +(a+b)x +ab

this tells you the coefficient of x is the sum of two factors of the constant term. here, that means -1 is the sum of two factors of -6. we want to know those factors so we can factor the trinomial.

  -6 = -1×6 = -2×3 = -3×2 = -6×1

the factor pair that sums to -1 is {-3, 2}, so our factorization is

  2(x -3)(x +2) = 0

solutions

the solutions to this equation are the values of x that make the product zero. a product is zero only when only of the factors of the product is zero. here, that means

  x - 3 = 0

  x = 3 . . . add 3 to both sides of the equation

or

  x +2 = 0

  x = -2 . . . add -2 to both sides of the equation

the solutions to the equation are x=3 or x=-2. both of these values of x satisfy the equation—they make it be true.

walter needs to make at least 5 more cookies but no more than 40. 5 ≤ x ≤ 40

step-by-step explanation:

20 ≤ x + 15 ≤ 55

subtract 15 from all parts

20-15 ≤ x + 15-15 ≤ 55-15

5 ≤ x ≤ 40

this means how many more cookies he has to make

walter needs to make at least 5 more cookies, but no more than 40 cookies; 5 ≤ x ≤ 40