Solve the following equation with a rational exponent: 2x3/2 = 16

8
84
no solution
4

1 answer

To solve the equation \( 2x^{3/2} = 16 \), we can start by isolating \( x^{3/2} \).

  1. Divide both sides of the equation by 2:

\[ x^{3/2} = \frac{16}{2} = 8 \]

  1. Now, we will raise both sides to the power of \( \frac{2}{3} \) to solve for \( x \):

\[ \left(x^{3/2}\right)^{\frac{2}{3}} = 8^{\frac{2}{3}} \]

  1. The left side simplifies to \( x^{(3/2) \cdot (2/3)} = x^1 = x \).

  2. Now we need to calculate \( 8^{\frac{2}{3}} \):

\[ 8^{\frac{2}{3}} = \left(2^3\right)^{\frac{2}{3}} = 2^{3 \cdot \frac{2}{3}} = 2^2 = 4 \]

  1. Therefore, we find that:

\[ x = 4 \]

The solution to the equation \( 2x^{3/2} = 16 \) is \( x = 4 \).

So the final answer is:

\[ \boxed{4} \]