Question

Solve the cube root equation

\sqrt[3]{x+244} - \sqrt[3]{x-244} = 2


Collected in the board: Cube root

Steven Zheng posted 1 year ago

Answer

Let

a = \sqrt[3]{x+244}
(1)
b = \sqrt[3]{x-244}
(2)

Then

a - b = 2
(3)

Difference of a and b raised to the power of 3 gives

a^3 - b^3 = 488
(4)

Factor LHS using difference of cubes formula

(a - b)(a^2+ab+b^2) = 488
(5)

Substitute (3) to (5) and simplify

a^2+ab+b^2 = 244
(6)

Square of equation (3) gives

(a -b )^2 = 4

Expand LHS

a^2 - 2ab +b^2 = 4
(7)

Substract (7) from (6) and solve for ab

ab = \dfrac{1}{3}(\dfrac{2\cdot 244}{2} - 2^2 ) = 80
(8)

Substituting ab to (6) gives

a^2+b^2 = 244 - ab = 164
(9)

Construct a perfect square binomial with (9) and (8)

(a+b)^2 = a^2+b^2+2ab
(a+b)^2 = 164 +2\cdot 80 = 324

Taking square root of both sides gives

a +b = \pm18
(10)

Now we get two systems of equations

Case 1

\begin{cases} a+b = 18 \\ a - b =2 \end{cases}

which gives

\begin{cases} a= 10 \\ b =17 \end{cases}

Then

x = a^3 - 244 = 10^3 - 244 = 756

Case 2

\begin{cases} a+b = -18 \\ a - b =2 \end{cases}

which gives

\begin{cases} a= -8 \\ b =-10 \end{cases}

Then

x = a^3 - 244 = -8^3 - 244 = -756

In summary, we get two solutions for x.

x = 756 \text{ or }x = -756


Steven Zheng posted 1 year ago

Scroll to Top