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Going thru the beginning chapters from GMAT Math book v3, it reads: 24 May 2017, 15:19
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Going thru the beginning chapters from GMAT Math book v3, it reads:
\(\sqrt{x^2}\) = |x| and
when x<=0 then \(\sqrt{x^2}\) = -x and
when x>= 0 then \(\sqrt{x^2}\) = x.

My Math is rusty but don't you have to square both sides in order to remove the modulus? Pardon my ignorance on the topic. Maybe someone could help me understand the concept?

p.s: I did search for this question before I posted but the search yielded no results due to too many common parameters provided.

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Going thru the beginning chapters from GMAT Math book v3, it reads: 24 May 2017, 19:01
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Look at it this way,

\((-2)^2=4\)
\((2)^2=4\)

Hence applying the reverse
\(√4 =2 or -2\)

and 2 and -2 can be collectively referred as |2|

Thus it follows
\(x^2 = |x|\)and
when \(x<=0\)then \(x^2−−√x2 = -x\) and
when \(x>= 0\)then \(x^2−−√x2 = x\).

This is a very powerful concept, used in multiple questions you will see on this forum. You can check the absolute value/modulus tags for this
https://gmatclub.com/forum/search.php?s ... &tag_id=37
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Going thru the beginning chapters from GMAT Math book v3, it reads: 25 May 2017, 15:47
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Tan2017
Look at it this way,

...

Thus it follows
\(x^2 = |x|\)and
when \(x<=0\)then \(x^2−−√x2 = -x\) and
when \(x>= 0\)then \(x^2−−√x2 = x\).

...
Show more

I followed you until \(x^2 = |x|\) ... LOL. I am not sure I understood what followed after. Could you dumb it down a notch for me, please?
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Going thru the beginning chapters from GMAT Math book v3, it reads: 25 May 2017, 15:52
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Going thru the beginning chapters from GMAT Math book v3, it reads:
\(\sqrt{x^2}\) = |x| and
when x<=0 then \(\sqrt{x^2}\) = -x and
when x>= 0 then \(\sqrt{x^2}\) = x.

My Math is rusty but don't you have to square both sides in order to remove the modulus? Pardon my ignorance on the topic. Maybe someone could help me understand the concept?

p.s: I did search for this question before I posted but the search yielded no results due to too many common parameters provided.
Show more

MUST KNOW: \(\sqrt{x^2}=|x|\):

The point here is that since square root function cannot give negative result then \(\sqrt{some \ expression}\geq{0}\).

So \(\sqrt{x^2}\geq{0}\). But what does \(\sqrt{x^2}\) equal to?

Let's consider following examples:
If \(x=5\) --> \(\sqrt{x^2}=\sqrt{25}=5=x=positive\);
If \(x=-5\) --> \(\sqrt{x^2}=\sqrt{25}=5=-x=positive\).

So we got that:
\(\sqrt{x^2}=x\), if \(x\geq{0}\);
\(\sqrt{x^2}=-x\), if \(x<0\).

What function does exactly the same thing? The absolute value function: \(|x|=x\), if \(x\geq{0}\) and \(|x|=-x\), if \(x<0\). That is why \(\sqrt{x^2}=|x|\).

Hope it's clear.

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Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Where to now? Join ongoing discussions on thousands of quality questions in our Quantitative Questions Forum
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Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!