Make This Polynomial Disappear
A magician 'makes x² − 9 disappear' by letting x = 3, its root, to an amazed audience.
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Free for classrooms, worksheets, slides and other non-commercial use under CC BY-NC 4.0, with credit to Ben Orlin.
Cartoon by Ben Orlin, Math with Bad Drawings. https://cartoons.mathwithbaddrawings.com/2024-01-01-make-this-polynomial-disappear/ (CC BY-NC 4.0)Transcript
Magician: "For my next trick, I shall make this polynomial… DISAPPEAR!" [x² − 9] … "Abracadabra… let x = 3… presto!" Audience: "Egad!" "Impossible!" "Where did it go?!"