Solve for x x+ square root of x=72
Problem
Solution
Substitute a new variable to simplify the equation by letting
u=√(,x) which impliesu2=x Rewrite the original equation in terms of
u to form a quadratic equation.
Rearrange the equation into standard quadratic form by subtracting 72 from both sides.
Factor the quadratic expression by finding two numbers that multiply to
−72 and add to1
Solve for
u by setting each factor to zero.
Back-substitute
u=√(,x) to find the values ofx Since the principal square root√(,x) cannot be negative, we discardu=−9
Square both sides of the valid equation to solve for
x
Final Answer
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