Question

Find the smaller solution for
x^2−20=−8

Answer 1

\[x ^{2}-20=-8 \]
first subtract add 20 to both sides which is:
x^2=12
then take the square root of 12 which is 2 square root 3

Answer 2

*i meant add 20 to both sides

Answer 3

You need to isolate x and we do this by grouping like terms together. The best way to start this is to get rid of that -20 on the left. We do this by adding 20, and what we do on the left we must do on the right. Now that we have x isolated, we need to get rid of that exponent so we square root both sides.

x^2 -20 = -8
x^2 - 20 + 20 = -8 + 20
x^2 = 12
sqrt(x^2) = sqrt(12)
x = sqrt(12)