Absolutely Radical

Algebra Level 3

Which of the following is an algebraic identity?

x 2 = x 4 x^2 = \sqrt{x^4} x 3 = x 6 x^3 = \sqrt{x^6} x = x 2 x = \sqrt{x^2}

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2 solutions

Hobart Pao
Jul 16, 2016

x 6 = x 3 \sqrt{x^6} = \left| x^3 \right| which does NOT always equal x 3 x^3 since x 3 x^3 can take negative values.

x 2 = x \sqrt{x^2} = \left| x \right| which does NOT always equal x x since x x can take negative values.

x 4 = x 2 = x 2 \sqrt{x^4} = \left| x^2 \right| = x^2 because x 2 x^2 always takes positive values.

Sabhrant Sachan
Jul 16, 2016

x n = x 2 n must be true for all x R x k , k R + ( k ) n = ( k ) 2 n Since RHS is +ve , " n " must be even The only correct option is x 2 = x 4 x^{n} = \sqrt{x^{2n} } \text{ must be true for all }x \in \mathbb R \\ x \rightarrow -k ,\quad k\in \mathbb R^{+} \implies (-k)^{n}=\sqrt{(-k)^{2n}} \\ \text{Since RHS is +ve , " n " must be even } \\ \text{The only correct option is } x^2=\sqrt{x^4}

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