To find the answer to "What two numbers have a product of 2 and a sum of -85?" we first state what we know. We are looking for x and y and we know that x • y = 2 and x + y = -85.
Before we keep going, it is important to know that x • y is the same as y • x and x + y is the same as y + x. The two variables are interchangeable. Which means that when we create one equation to solve the problem, we will have two answers.
To solve the problem, we take x + y = -85 and solve it for y to get y = -85 - x. Then, we replace y in x • y = 2 with -85 - x to get this:
x • (-85 - x) = 2
Like we said above, the x and y are interchangeable, therefore the x in the equation above could also be y. The bottom line is that when we solved the equation we got two answers which are the two numbers that have a product of 2 and a sum of -85. The numbers are:
-84.97646
-0.02354
That's it! The two numbers that have a product of 2 and a sum of -85 are -84.97646 and -0.02354 as proven below:
-84.97646 • -0.02354 ≈ 2
-84.97646 + -0.02354 = -85
Note: Answers are rounded up to the nearest five decimals if necessary so the answers may not be exact.
Product Sum Calculator
Need the answer to a similar problem? Submit another product and sum below to find the two numbers that make your product and sum.