Algebra Examples

$4^{x} - 12 \cdot 2^{x} + 32 = 0$

Step 1

Factor the left side of the equation.

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Step 1.1

Rewrite $4^{x}$ as ${(2^{2})}^{x}$ .

${(2^{2})}^{x} - 12 \cdot 2^{x} + 32 = 0$

Step 1.2

Rewrite ${(2^{2})}^{x}$ as ${(2^{x})}^{2}$ .

${(2^{x})}^{2} - 12 \cdot 2^{x} + 32 = 0$

Step 1.3

Let $u = 2^{x}$ . Substitute $u$ for all occurrences of $2^{x}$ .

$u^{2} - 12 u + 32 = 0$

Step 1.4

Factor $u^{2} - 12 u + 32$ using the AC method.

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Step 1.4.1

Consider the form $x^{2} + b x + c$ . Find a pair of integers whose product is $c$ and whose sum is $b$ . In this case, whose product is $32$ and whose sum is $- 12$ .

$- 8, - 4$

Step 1.4.2

Write the factored form using these integers.

$(u - 8) (u - 4) = 0$

Step 1.5

Replace all occurrences of $u$ with $2^{x}$ .

$(2^{x} - 8) (2^{x} - 4) = 0$

Step 2

If any individual factor on the left side of the equation is equal to $0$ , the entire expression will be equal to $0$ .

$2^{x} - 8 = 0$

$2^{x} - 4 = 0$

Step 3

Set $2^{x} - 8$ equal to $0$ and solve for $x$ .

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Step 3.1

Set $2^{x} - 8$ equal to $0$ .

$2^{x} - 8 = 0$

Step 3.2

Solve $2^{x} - 8 = 0$ for $x$ .

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Step 3.2.1

Add $8$ to both sides of the equation.

$2^{x} = 8$

Step 3.2.2

Create equivalent expressions in the equation that all have equal bases.

$2^{x} = 2^{3}$

Step 3.2.3

Since the bases are the same, then two expressions are only equal if the exponents are also equal.

$x = 3$

Step 4

Set $2^{x} - 4$ equal to $0$ and solve for $x$ .

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Step 4.1

Set $2^{x} - 4$ equal to $0$ .

$2^{x} - 4 = 0$

Step 4.2

Solve $2^{x} - 4 = 0$ for $x$ .

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Step 4.2.1

Add $4$ to both sides of the equation.

$2^{x} = 4$

Step 4.2.2

Create equivalent expressions in the equation that all have equal bases.

$2^{x} = 2^{2}$

Step 4.2.3

Since the bases are the same, then two expressions are only equal if the exponents are also equal.

$x = 2$

Step 5

The final solution is all the values that make $(2^{x} - 8) (2^{x} - 4) = 0$ true.

$x = 3, 2$