Solve x2 = 25/64 by inspection. There are two real solutions. Enter the lesser number first. Leave the answers in simplest fraction form.

1 answer

To solve the equation \( x^2 = \frac{25}{64} \) by inspection, we want to find values of \( x \) such that when squared, they equal \( \frac{25}{64} \).

We can observe that:

\[ x = \pm \frac{5}{8} \]

This is because:

\[ \left(\frac{5}{8}\right)^2 = \frac{25}{64} \quad \text{and} \quad \left(-\frac{5}{8}\right)^2 = \frac{25}{64} \]

Therefore, the two real solutions are:

\[ -\frac{5}{8} \quad \text{and} \quad \frac{5}{8} \]

The lesser number first gives us the final answer:

\[ -\frac{5}{8}, \frac{5}{8} \]