Question Details

The sum of all real roots of the equation

|x − 1|2 − 5|x − 1| + 6 = 0

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Correct Answer :

4

Solution :

We are given the equation:
|x-1|2-5|x-1|+6=0

To solve this equation, we can use a substitution method. Let y=|x-1|.
Since y represents an absolute value, we must have the condition y0.

Substituting y into the original equation gives a quadratic equation in terms of y:
y2-5y+6=0

We can factor this quadratic equation by finding two numbers that multiply to 6 and add to -5. These numbers are -2 and -3:
(y-2)(y-3)=0

This gives two possible values for y:
y=2 or y=3

Both of these values satisfy the condition y0. Now we substitute back y=|x-1| to find the real roots for x.

Case 1: |x-1|=2
This absolute value equation yields two equations:
x-1=2x=3
x-1=-2x=-1

Case 2: |x-1|=3
This absolute value equation also yields two equations:
x-1=3x=4
x-1=-3x=-2

Thus, the set of all real roots of the equation is {-2,-1,3,4}.

We are asked to find the sum of all real roots:
Sum of roots=(-2)+(-1)+3+4
Sum of roots=-3+7=4

Therefore, the sum of all real roots of the equation is 4.

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