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Revision as of 06:08, 3 October 2014

Problem

A value of $x$ satisfying the equation $x^2 \plus{} b^2 \equal{} (a \minus{} x)^2$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg) is:

$\textbf{(A)}\ \frac{b^2 \plus{} a^2}{2a}\qquad \textbf{(B)}\ \frac{b^2 \minus{} a^2}{2a}\qquad \textbf{(C)}\ \frac{a^2 \minus{} b^2}{2a}\qquad \textbf{(D)}\ \frac{a \minus{} b}{2}\qquad \textbf{(E)}\ \frac{a^2 \minus{} b^2}{2}$ (Error compiling LaTeX. Unknown error_msg)

Solution

Solve for x:

\[x^2+b^2=(a-x)^2\] \[x^2+b^2=x^2-2ax+a^2\] \[b^2=-2ax+a^2\] \[2ax=a^2-b^2\] \[x=\frac{a^2-b^2}{2a} \to \boxed{\text{(C)}}\]


See Also

1958 AHSC (ProblemsAnswer KeyResources)
Preceded by
Problem 8
Followed by
Problem 10
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All AHSME Problems and Solutions

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