The solution of 5x−1+x−1=2 is: (A)x=2,x=1(B)x=32(C)x=2(D)x=1(E)x=0
Multiple choice: answer with the letter of the option you want.
Solution
First, square both sides. This gives us 5x−12+2⋅5x−1⋅x−1+x−12=4⟹5x−1+2⋅(5x−1)⋅(x−1)+x−1=4⟹2⋅5x2−6x+1+6x−2=4 Then, adding −6x to both sides gives us 2⋅5x2−6x+1+6x−2−6x=4−6x⟹2⋅5x2−6x+1−2=−6x+4 After that, adding 2 to both sides will give us 2⋅5x2−6x+1−2+2=−6x+4+2⟹2⋅5x2−6x+1=−6x+6 Next, we divide both sides by 2 which gives us 22⋅5x2−6x+1−2+2=2−6x+4+2⟹5x2−6x+1=−3x+3 Finally, solving the equation, we get 5x2−6x+1=(−3x+3)2⟹5x2−6x+1=9x2−18x+9 ⟹5x2−6x+1−(9x2−18x+9)=9x2−18x+9−(9x2−18x+9) ⟹−4x2+12x−8=0⟹−4(x−1)(x−2)=0 ⟹x−1=0orx−2=0⟹x=1orx=2 Plugging 1 and 2 into the original equation, 5x−1+x−1=2, we see that when x=1 5x−1+x−1=2⟹5⋅1−1+1−1=2⟹4+0=2⟹2+0=2⟹2=2 the equation is true. On the other hand, we note that when x=2 5x−1+x−1=2⟹5⋅2−1+2−1=2⟹9+1=2⟹3+1=2⟹4=0 the equation is false. Therefore the answer is (D) x=1. ~awesomechoco
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