Question

The square of a certain negative number is equal to 5 more than one half of the number what is the number

Answer 1

the square of a certain negative number is equal to 5 more than one half of that number
what is that number
let x be that number
thus x² = x/2 + 5
x² - x/2 - 5 = 0
2x² - x -10 = 0
(2x-5) (x + 2) = 0
x = 5/2 or - 2
so the number is - 2