Asked by David

Which of the following is an extraneous solution of StartRoot 4 x + 41 EndRoot = x + 5?
x = –8
x = –2

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
Solve sqrt(4x + 41) = x + 5. Domain: 4x + 41 ≥ 0 ⇒ x ≥ -10.25.

Square both sides: 4x + 41 = (x + 5)^2 = x^2 + 10x + 25
⇒ 0 = x^2 + 6x - 16 = (x - 2)(x + 8)
⇒ x = 2 or x = -8.

Check in the original:
- x = 2: sqrt(49) = 7 = 2 + 5 → valid.
- x = -8: sqrt(9) = 3 ≠ -8 + 5 = -3 → extraneous.

Thus x = –8 is the extraneous solution. (x = –2 is not a solution at all.)