Taking Square Roots Examples Page 1

Solve: x² + 2x + 1 = 16.

We can factor the left-hand side of this equation to see that

(x + 1)² = 16.

Then, taking the square root of 16 yields

x + 1 = ± 4.

Solve the two equations,

x + 1 = 4 and x + 1 = -4,

and we can conclude that the solutions are x = 3 and x = -5. Phew. It's nice to have some closure on that.