40% of College Students get this question wrong. AND IT MAKES ME ANGRY!

[buggy65]

College is supposed to be a place of higher learning. To get into college you must also pass high school and a number of exams. Yet, based on a recent campus wide survey conducted at my school 40% of college students cannot FOIL. I am a math major and this saddens and angers me. So Escapist, I ask you:

FOIL: (x+3)^2
EDIT: FOIL/BOMAS also means Expand...

Please put your answers in spoiler tags so people can't cheat without actively looking. To do a spoiler tag you place [mathspoiler]{content}[/mathspoiler] but remove the "math" part.

Remember, 40 freakin' percent fail at this. Try not to be one of them.

The correct answer is

Spoiler

{x^2+6x+9}

 

[BonsaiK]

I've got a bachelor degree and I don't even understand the question!

Mind you, I'm qualified in a profession that doesn't need this type of calculation.

 

[Agayek]

Well, I wasn't sure what FOIL means, as I usually refer to it as "expanding" or some variation thereof, but I did know the answer.

Edit: Also, there are a lot of people who study fake majors (like Art, Music, etc), and they don't tend, or need, much in the way of math classes so it's somewhat understandable. Depressing, but understandable.

 

[buggy65]

This is Algebra I stuff. It is taught in High School!

 

[Angry Caterpillar]

(x+3)(x+3)
x^2+6x+9
If I'm wrong, I call being not good at math in the first place, and being in tenth grade.
EDIT: Yay I got it right!

 

[NeutralDrow]

FOIL: (x+3)^2

...foil?

Spoiler

It's x^2+6x+9, but what the hell does foil mean?

 

[Glerken]

Easy...

I suppose they could have, forgotten how to FOIL?
First..Outer...Inner...Last.
Still got it.

 

[Corven]

FOIL: (x+3)^2

...foil?

Spoiler

It's x^2+6x+9, but what the hell does foil mean?

first outside inside last.
I believe

 

[TheSquirrelisKing]

Spoiler: I think this is it. It's been a while.

(x^2x6Xx9)

 

[Generator]

Spoiler

(x+3)^2 is (x+3)(x+3). When you FOIL that out, you get x^2+6x+9.

Maybe people just didn't know what "FOIL" was. I've had teachers who have called it other things, or even used different methods, but still got the same result. And, for that matter, what college did they conduct this "study" at? I sense a conspiracy!

 

[BonsaiK]

This is Algebra I stuff. It is taught in High School!

Yeah but I'm 35. I forgot all that crap nearly 20 years ago because it's not used in the field that I now work in. My brain keeps the useful knowledge and discards the other stuff.

 

[shadowstriker86]

i have to respond to this with a question. Who cares? its the same argument i gave to my teachers back in high school, it never comes into practical everyday use, so it's useless outside of studies.

 

[moose49408]

Foil means "first, outer, inner, last" and it's just a simply way of remembering how one multiplies the two parts of an equation like this. I know how to do it quite simply, but ironically am unsure how to make a spoiler box. I'll answer in a way that should let those who know how to do it know that i know, but not give the answer away. 1 6 9 ...but then again, I'm a college grad and I majored in Astronomy and Physics, so continued use of math was pretty integral (no pun intended) to my continued education.

 

[Lost In The Void]

Spoiler: OOC

X^2+6X+9

I'm assuming those who got it wrong are mostly art students where as this is a math question. Luckily I took 4 math courses in two years so it isn't that hard for me to remember.

FOIL: (x+3)^2

...foil?

Spoiler

It's x^2+6x+9, but what the hell does foil mean?

FOIL is an acronum making it easy to remember steps. I personally use the distributive method, but F=Front Two O=Outer Two I=Inner Two L=Last Two

 

[Risingblade]

{x^2+6x+9}
I suck at math but, I managed to get it right! xD

 

[NimbleJack3]

It's taught in 8-10th grade in Australia. We know it as expanding and simplifying. Does foil stand for something?

 

[BlindMessiah94]

Well, I wasn't sure what FOIL means, as I usually refer to it as "expanding" or some variation thereof, but I did know the answer.

Edit: Also, there are a lot of people who study fake majors (like Art, Music, etc), and they don't tend, or need, much in the way of math classes so it's somewhat understandable. Depressing, but understandable.

Maybe it's something like BEDMAS?

OT: I thought maybe you had to solve for X and though, that's not even an equation so I can't solve and was gonna challenge the OP, but turns out he just wants us to expand the "equation".