I am thinking of a number. If I add 4 to it, square the result, divide that result by 20, and subtract 4, the infal result is 1. What is my number
(((x+4)^2)/20)-4 = 1
solving for x gives you 6.
Thank-you Vanessa, I did figure it out shortly after posting the question.
To solve this problem, let's break it down step by step.
Let's start by representing the unknown number as "x".
1. "If I add 4 to it": We can express this as x + 4.
2. "Square the result": Squaring means multiplying a number by itself. So, we square x + 4 as (x + 4)^2.
3. "Divide that result by 20": We divide (x + 4)^2 by 20, which gives us [(x + 4)^2] / 20.
4. "Subtract 4": Finally, we subtract 4 from [(x + 4)^2] / 20, resulting in [(x + 4)^2] / 20 - 4.
According to the problem, this expression should equal 1. So, we have the equation:
[(x + 4)^2] / 20 - 4 = 1
Now, we can solve this equation to find the value of x.
1. Multiply both sides of the equation by 20 to remove the fraction:
[(x + 4)^2] - 80 = 20
2. Simplify the equation:
(x + 4)^2 = 100
3. Take the square root of both sides to solve for x:
√[(x + 4)^2] = √100
x + 4 = ±10
4. Subtract 4 from both sides to isolate x:
x = -4 ± 10
This gives us two possible values for x: -4 + 10 = 6 and -4 - 10 = -14.
Therefore, your number could be either 6 or -14.