How do you solve sqrt(4x+1)+3=0?

2 Answers
Mar 16, 2018

You can't.

Explanation:

sqrt(4x+1)+3=0

Subtract -3 from both sides,

sqrt(4x+1)=-3

Since the square root of any number cannot be negative, there are no values of x that satisfies the equation.

Mar 25, 2018

Actually, there is no solution.

Explanation:

I know everyone else said that the solution is x=2, but if you plug it in, it doesn't hold up:

color(white)=>sqrt(4x+1)+3=0

=>sqrt(4(2)+1)+3=0

color(white)=>sqrt(8+1)+3=0

color(white)=>sqrt(9)+3=0

color(white)=>3+3=0

color(white)=>6!=0

You can also look at the graph of sqrt(4x+1)+3 and see that there are no zeroes:

graph{sqrt(4x+1)+3 [-10.24, 15.07, -3.37, 9.29]}

Here's the flaw in trying to solve it:

sqrt(4x+1)+3=0

sqrt(4x+1)=-3
" "color(red)uarr
Here's the mistake. A square root cannot equal a negative number, so the process needs to stop here. Unfortunately, you can't square both sides.

Hope this helped!