1976 AHSME Problems/Problem 27

Problem

If $N=\frac{\sqrt{\sqrt{5}+2}+\sqrt{\sqrt{5}-2}}{\sqrt{\sqrt{5}+1}}-\sqrt{3-2\sqrt{2}}$ , then $N$ equals

$\textbf{(A) }1\qquad \textbf{(B) }2\sqrt{2}-1\qquad \textbf{(C) }\frac{\sqrt{5}}{2}\qquad \textbf{(D) }\sqrt{\frac{5}{2}}\qquad \textbf{(E) }\text{none of these}$

Solution

We will split this problem into two parts: The fraction on the left and the square root on the right.

Starting with the fraction on the left, begin by squaring the numerator and putting a square root around it. It becomes

$\frac{\sqrt{(\sqrt{\sqrt{5}+2}+\sqrt{\sqrt{5}-2})^2}}{\sqrt{\sqrt{5}+1}} = \frac{\sqrt{(\sqrt{5}+2)+(\sqrt{5}-2)+2( \sqrt{(\sqrt{5}+2)(\sqrt{5}-2)}}}{\sqrt{\sqrt{5}+1}} = \frac{\sqrt{2\sqrt5+2\sqrt{(\sqrt5)^2-2^2}}}{\sqrt{\sqrt{5}+1}} = \frac{\sqrt{2\sqrt5+2\sqrt{1}}}{\sqrt{\sqrt5+1}} = \frac{\sqrt{2\sqrt5+2}}{\sqrt{\sqrt5+1}} = \frac{(\sqrt{2})(\sqrt{\sqrt5+1})}{\sqrt{\sqrt5+1}} = \sqrt2$ .

Now for the right side.

$\sqrt{3-2\sqrt2} = \sqrt{(1-\sqrt2)^2} = 1-\sqrt2$

Putting it all together gives:

$(\sqrt2)+(1-\sqrt2)=\boxed{(A) 1}.$

~Someonenumber011

1976 AHSME (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 26	Followed by Problem 28
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1976 AHSME Problems/Problem 27

Problem

Solution

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