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If |x - 5| = 2|x - 8|, then what is the value of x?

(1) \(|x^2 – 100| > 50\)

(2) \(|x^2 – 49| =0\)

I've got some math in the question stem, so I'll start by writing it down and then simplifying it.

|x - 5| = 2|x - 8|

I like to think of absolute values containing subtraction as being "distances". For example, |x - 5| is the distance between x and 5 on a number line, and |x - 8| is the distance between x and 8 on a number line.

So, this question stem says "the distance between x and 5 on a number line is twice the distance between x and 8 on a number line."

Or in other words, "x is twice as far from 5 as it is from 8."

Sketch a number line to see where this will happen:

-----------5---------x----8-------

-----------5--------------8--------------x--------

A little guessing and testing confirms that x = 7 and x = 11 are the two cases where this is true.

So, the question stem says "either x = 7, or x = 11." That's a much easier translation. It also makes the statements easier to work with: we only ever need to test the values 7 and 11! Now on to the statements.

Statement 1: Given that |x^2 - 100| is greater than 50, can I exclude either 7 or 11?

Yes. x can't equal 11, because |11^2 - 100| is less than 50. And it can't be any other number, aside from 7, since the question stem says that x is definitely either 7 or 11. Therefore, x = 7, and the statement is sufficient.

Statement 2: This lets me exclude x = 11 as well. Therefore, x = 7, and the statement is sufficient.

The correct answer is D.
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