Gideon has prepared the following two-column proof

Subscriptions to a popular fashion magazine have gone down by a consistent percentage each year and can be modeled by the function y = 42,000(0.96)t. what does the value 42,000 represent in the function?

1- what do you think the product of a nonzero rational number and an irrational number is? is it rational or irrational? make use of variables, the closure property of integers, and possibly a proof by contradiction to prove your hypothesis.2- why do we have to specify that the rational number must be nonzero when we determine what the product of a nonzero rational number and an irrational number is? if the rational number were 0, would it give us the same result we found in the first question?

Can someone factor this fully? my friend and i have two different answers and i would like to know if either of them is right. you in advance. a^2 - b^2 + 25 + 10a