College Algebra & Trigonometry, 2018a

36 CHAPTER 1. ALGEBRA REVIEW
In moving the 2x to the other side of the equation, I have seen students put the
term they’re adding to that side as the last term. There is nothing wrong about
this, but if you do that, you must be careful about identifying the values of A, B
and C.
3x 2 − 7=2x
−2x = −2x
3x 2 − 7 − 2x =0
There is nothing wrong about the way the equation above is written depsite the
fact that it is not in ”standard form.” The important thing to remember is that ”A”
is not the coefficient of whichever term is listed first. It is the coefficient of the
quradratic, or x 2 term. Likewise, ”B” is not the coefficient of the second term, but
rather the coefficient of the linear, or x 1 term. And ”C” is not whichever number
comes last, but rather the value of the constant term. So in the equation above,
however it is written, the value of A is +3, Bis−2 andCis−7.