The Phone Call

Yesterday, as I was about to walk out the door for work, I got a phone call from Jessica. There was no fire, no emergency and no one had stopped breathing. But there was a math problem that apparently needed to be solved urgently. So I found myself on speaker phone, a virtual member of Jessica's Algebra II class. (At least I got to say 'hi' to Mr. Turner.) She gave me the problem, and though my first reaction was to say, "You're at SCHOOL!" or "Do your OWN math problems," I'm just unable to turn down a challenge, particularly when someone else called up their brother.

So, the question is this: if x + y = 2 and x^2 + y^2 = 3, what is x^3 + y^3? I solved it in a few minutes. However, half way through, Turner gave out the hint that you don't need to solve for x and y to find the answer. So after I was done (beating out the rival brother), I had to find another way to solve it. Don't worry, I've got them both now, so I was able to sleep last night. I've even got them already typed up (I sent them to Jessica) so if you want a copy . . . nah, who are we kidding? You don't want a copy.