Question

solve


absolute value 2x-20 absolute value=absolute value 9x+ ansolute value 15

|2x-20|=|9x+15|

Answer 1

Following the definition of the absolute function, we have:
|2x-20|=2x-20 when 2x-20≥0, and
|2x-20|=-(2x-20) when 2x-20<0
and a similar relationship exists for the right hand side.

For this particular case, solving the following equations for x will cover all cases:

2x-20=9x+15 ...(1), and
2x-20=-(9x+15) ...(2)

The following graphic depicts the solutions to (1) and (2):
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/2189/1285109962.png