Given f(x)=x+1 and (f(x))2=5f(x)−4 are satisfied by x1 or x2. What is the value of x1+x2?
Explanation
We are given the equation (f(x))2=5f(x)−4. We can rearrange it into a quadratic equation in terms of f(x):
(f(x))2−5f(x)+4=0
This equation is satisfied by x1 and x2. Based on the sum of roots formula for quadratic equations (x1+x2=−ab), the sum of the values of f(x) satisfying the equation is:
f(x1)+f(x2)=−1−5=5
Given f(x)=x+1. We substitute this into the equation above:
(x1+1)+(x2+1)x1+x2+2x1+x2x1+x2=5=5=5−2=3
Thus, the value of x1+x2 is 3.