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Math Challenge II-B Algebra Problem 8.25

 
 
ShiJames的头像
Math Challenge II-B Algebra Problem 8.25
ShiJames - 2020年08月1日 Saturday 15:15
 

For this problem, I squared both sides of the equation twice and then wrote it as a quadratic with $4$ as the variable. I then used the quadratic equation on this constant and got $4$ different solutions for $x$. I know some of these are extraneous solutions, but how do I know which values of $x$ will be valid solutions of $\sqrt{5-\sqrt{5-x}} = x$ without having to test the solutions? Thank you.

 
ProfessorAreteem的头像
Re: Math Challenge II-B Algebra Problem 8.25
ProfessorAreteem - 2020年08月3日 Monday 12:58
 

Since $x = \sqrt{5-k}$ for a positive number $k \leq \sqrt{5}$, it must be true that $0 < x < \sqrt{5}$. This can help get rid of possible extraneous solutions.