4 times a number is 12 less than the square of that number. Find the negative solution.

4 times a number : 4x

12 less than the square of that number : x^2 - 12 (be careful here)

because it says that the first part is the other part you can set them equal each other:

4x = x^2 - 12 now solve it its a quadratic so it might have two solutions it looks like they only want a negative one

x^2 - 4x - 12 move everything over to the same side and factor it. look for two factors that multiply to give you - 12 and add to give you - 4

(x - 6) (x + 2) set each part equal to 0 and solve for x

you should get x = 6 and - 2 since they asked for the negative solution it's - 2