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2 votes
-1-|x+5|=-14
How do you solve

User Theisof
by
6.5k points

1 Answer

3 votes

-1-|x+5|=-14 is an absolute value equation. It transforms into two separate equations with different solutions:

First multiply all three terms by -1. This results in 1 + |x+5| = 14, or |x+5| = 13.

There are two cases here. The first is when x+5 is already +. Here the absolute value operator doesn't make any difference:

x+5 = 13. Subtracting 5 from both sides, we get x = 8.

The second case is when (x+5) is negative. Applying the absolute value sign produces the result -(x+5). Note that neg times neg equals pos. Now write out -(x+5) = 13 and solve for x: -x - 5 = 13, or x = -18.

The solutions are {-18,8}.

User Qantik
by
6.6k points
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