Question

Explain the error in each statement
If x2 =25, then x=5

Answer 1

x can also be -5

Explanation:

Since we are squaring x, when we take the square root of an even power, we put an absolute value on the other side so:

`√(x^2)` =
`√(25)`

x = |5|

Now we seperate the equation so that we can remove the absolute value by adding a +-.

x = +- 5 or

x = 5 and x = -5

Now we can see that x does not have to be only 5