To solve the quadratic equation \((x - 7)^2 = 11\), we first take the square root of both sides:
\[ x - 7 = \pm \sqrt{11} \]
This gives us two equations to solve:
- \(x - 7 = \sqrt{11}\)
- \(x - 7 = -\sqrt{11}\)
Now, we can solve each equation for \(x\):
- From \(x - 7 = \sqrt{11}\):
\[ x = 7 + \sqrt{11} \]
- From \(x - 7 = -\sqrt{11}\):
\[ x = 7 - \sqrt{11} \]
Now we have our two solutions:
- The smaller solution is \(x = 7 - \sqrt{11}\).
- The larger solution is \(x = 7 + \sqrt{11}\).
Now let's identify the values explicitly
Given that \(\sqrt{11} \approx 3.32\) (approximately):
-
Smaller solution:
\[ x = 7 - \sqrt{11} \approx 7 - 3.32 = 3.68 \] -
Larger solution:
\[ x = 7 + \sqrt{11} \approx 7 + 3.32 = 10.32 \]
Thus, the final answers for the two solutions to the quadratic equation are:
- The smaller of the two solutions is \(x = 7 - \sqrt{11}\).
- The larger of the two solutions is \(x = 7 + \sqrt{11}\).