help with solving (x + 4)(x + 5) = 36

If I have the following problem:

(x+4)(x+5)=36

Can I solve and find a number that equals x? Can anyone show me step by step how to do this?

Re: help with this problem! solving for x!

The basic premise is this. If a*b = 0, then either a = 0 or b = 0. This simply does not work with anything except zero (0).

So, with (x+4)(x+5)=36, you need to make it equal to zero.

(x+4)(x+5) = x^2 + 9x + 20 = 36

x^2 + 9x + 20 - 36 = 0

x^2 + 9x - 16 = 0

Can you solve that? It WILL take something other than factoring.