Asked by Bash

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

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
Solve sqrt(4x + 41) = x + 5. Square both sides: 4x + 41 = (x + 5)^2 = x^2 + 10x + 25.
Rearrange: x^2 + 6x - 16 = 0 → (x - 2)(x + 8) = 0 → x = 2 or x = -8.

Check in the original equation:
- x = 2: sqrt(4·2+41) = sqrt(49) = 7 and 2+5 = 7 → valid.
- x = -8: sqrt(4·(-8)+41) = sqrt(9) = 3 but -8+5 = -3 → not valid.

Thus x = -8 is the extraneous solution.