Apile driver drives a post 27 inches into the ground on its first hit. each additional hit drives the post 2/3 the distance of the prior hit. find the total distance the post has been driven after 5 hits.

hello from mrbilldoesmath!

answer:   (7x + 6y) ( 49x^2 - 42xy + 36y^2)

discussion:

in general, the factorization of a^3 + b^3 is

a^3 + b^ 3 = (a + b) ( a^2 - ab + b^2)

in our case note that 343 = 7^3 and 216 = 6^3 so the equation becomes:

343x^3 + 216y^3 = (7x)^3 + (6y)^3

if you think of a (above) as 7x and b as 6y the factorization becomes

343x^3 + 216y^3 =

((7x + 6y) (   (7x)^2 - 7x*6y + (6y)^2)   =

(7x + 6y) ( 49x^2 - 42xy + 36y^2)

you,

mrb

(a + b) (a^2 - a b + b^2)

step by step solution :

step   1   :

1.1     4 = 22

(4)3 = (22)3 = 26

equation at the end of step   1   :

  ((23) • 26)2

step   2   :

equation at the end of step   2   :

  (23 • 26)2

step   3   :

final result :

  218

ya