Recognize Quadratic Form: Let's first recognize that this is a quadratic in form, where x2 is the variable. We can substitute x2 with a new variable, let's say u, to make it look like a standard quadratic equation. So, let u=x2. The equation becomes u2−u−20=0.
Substitute Variable u: Now, we factor the quadratic equation u2−u−20. We are looking for two numbers that multiply to −20 and add up to −1. These numbers are −5 and 4. So we can write the equation as (u−5)(u+4)=0.
Factor Quadratic Equation: Next, we substitute back x2 for u to get the factors in terms of x. This gives us (x2−5)(x2+4)=0.
Substitute back to x: Now we need to solve for x. We have two separate factors that can be set to zero: x2−5=0 and x2+4=0. We will solve each one separately.
Solve for x - Factor 1: For the first factor, x2−5=0, we add 5 to both sides to get x2=5. Taking the square root of both sides gives us two solutions: x=5 and x=−5.
Solve for x - Factor 2: For the second factor, x2+4=0, we subtract 4 from both sides to get x2=−4. Taking the square root of both sides gives us two complex solutions: x=2i and x=−2i, where i is the imaginary unit.