May someone teach me how to use the magic x method to factor the quadratic 16x^2-36 step by step?

we have three similar triangles, because each has a right angle and shares an angle.   let's write the angles in order: opposite to short leg, long leg, hypotenuse.

cab similar to bad similar to cbd

or as ratios,

ca: ab: cb = ba: ad: bd = cb: bd: cd

we also know

ac = ad + cd

(ad+cd): ab: cb = ba: ad: bd = cb: bd: cd

(ad+cd)/cb=cb/cd

we have cb=6, ad=5 and seek x=cd.

we reject the negative root and conclude x=4

answer: 4

step-by-step explanation:

step 1: solve one of the equations for one of the variables. let's solve the first equation for y:

step 2: substitute that equation into the other equation, and solve for x.

step 3: substitute x = 4 x = 4 x=4 into one of the original equations, and solve for y.