Question

What on earth is 7 + √(x - 1) = 2?
I'm confused...

Answer 1

I am assuming that you are looking for x...

7 + √(x - 1) = 2

You must isolate x. To do this you must first subtract 7 to both sides:

7 - 7 + √(x - 1) = 2 - 7

0 + √(x - 1) = -5

√(x - 1) = -5

Now you must get rid of the square root. The opposite order of operation of the square root is squaring. Square both sides of the equation:

(√(x - 1) )² = (-5)²

x - 1 = 25

Now add 1 to both sides to fully isolate x

x - 1 + 1 = 25 + 1

x = 26

Now you must check that this is true:

7 + √(26 - 1) = 2

7 + √(25) = 2

7 + 5 = 2

12 ≠ 2

This is not true which means that this equation has NO solution

Hope this helped!

~Just a girl in love with Shawn Mendes

Answer 2

Answer: x = 26

Explanation:

Let's go step by step.

`7 + √(x-1) = 2\\√(x-1) = -5\\x-1 = (-5)^2 \\x-1 = 25\\x = 26`

Check your answer.

`7 + √(26-1) = 2\\ 7+5 = 2\\12 = 2`

That clearly doesn't work, showing how it has no solution.

^The answer above explained it better than me :P