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Algebra Difficulty 3.6 AMC 10/12 Find the answer

The solution of 5x1+x1=2\sqrt{5x-1}+\sqrt{x-1}=2 is:
(A) x=2,x=1\textbf{(A)}\ x=2,x=1(B) x=23\textbf{(B)}\ x=\frac{2}{3}(C) x=2\textbf{(C)}\ x=2(D) x=1\textbf{(D)}\ x=1(E) x=0\textbf{(E)}\ x=0

Multiple choice: answer with the letter of the option you want.

Solution

First, square both sides. This gives us
5x12+25x1x1+x12=45x1+2(5x1)(x1)+x1=425x26x+1+6x2=4\sqrt{5x-1}^2+2\cdot\sqrt{5x-1}\cdot\sqrt{x-1}+\sqrt{x-1}^2=4 \Longrightarrow 5x-1+2\cdot\sqrt{(5x-1)\cdot(x-1)}+x-1=4 \Longrightarrow 2\cdot\sqrt{5x^2-6x+1}+6x-2=4
Then, adding 6x-6x to both sides gives us
25x26x+1+6x26x=46x25x26x+12=6x+42\cdot\sqrt{5x^2-6x+1}+6x-2-6x=4-6x \Longrightarrow 2\cdot\sqrt{5x^2-6x+1}-2 =-6x+4
After that, adding 22 to both sides will give us
25x26x+12+2=6x+4+225x26x+1=6x+62\cdot\sqrt{5x^2-6x+1}-2+2=-6x+4+2 \Longrightarrow 2\cdot\sqrt{5x^2-6x+1}=-6x+6
Next, we divide both sides by 2 which gives us
25x26x+12+22=6x+4+225x26x+1=3x+3\frac{2\cdot\sqrt{5x^2-6x+1}-2+2}{2}=\frac{-6x+4+2}{2} \Longrightarrow \sqrt{5x^2-6x+1}=-3x+3
Finally, solving the equation, we get
5x26x+1=(3x+3)25x26x+1=9x218x+95x^2-6x+1=(-3x+3)^2 \Longrightarrow 5x^2-6x+1=9x^2-18x+9
5x26x+1(9x218x+9)=9x218x+9(9x218x+9)\Longrightarrow 5x^2-6x+1-(9x^2-18x+9)=9x^2-18x+9-(9x^2-18x+9)
4x2+12x8=04(x1)(x2)=0\Longrightarrow -4x^2+12x-8=0 \Longrightarrow -4(x-1)(x-2)=0
x1=0or x2=0x=1or x=2\Longrightarrow x-1=0 \text{or}\ x-2=0 \Longrightarrow x=1 \text{or}\ x=2
Plugging 1 and 2 into the original equation, 5x1+x1=2\sqrt{5x-1}+\sqrt{x-1}=2, we see that when x=1x=1
5x1+x1=2511+11=24+0=22+0=22=2\sqrt{5x-1}+\sqrt{x-1}=2 \Longrightarrow \sqrt{5\cdot1-1}+\sqrt{1-1}=2 \Longrightarrow \sqrt4+\sqrt0=2 \Longrightarrow 2+0=2 \Longrightarrow 2=2
the equation is true. On the other hand, we note that when x=2x=2
5x1+x1=2521+21=29+1=23+1=24=0\sqrt{5x-1}+\sqrt{x-1}=2 \Longrightarrow \sqrt{5\cdot2-1}+\sqrt{2-1}=2 \Longrightarrow \sqrt9+\sqrt1=2 \Longrightarrow 3+1=2 \Longrightarrow 4=0
the equation is false.
Therefore the answer is (D) x=1\boxed{{\textbf{(D) }} x=1}.
~awesomechoco

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Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.