Question 1 • Algebra II
Squaring both sides gives 4x + 41 = (x + 5)², which simplifies to x² + 6x − 16 = 0. Factoring gives (x + 8)(x − 2) = 0, so the candidates are x = −8 and x = 2. Substituting x = −8 into the original equation gives 3 = −3, which is false, so x = −8 is the extraneous solution.
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