Finite Math Examples

$5^{x - 1} = 6^{x}$

Step 1

Take the log of both sides of the equation.

$\ln (5^{x - 1}) = \ln (6^{x})$

Step 2

Expand $\ln (5^{x - 1})$ by moving $x - 1$ outside the logarithm.

$(x - 1) \ln (5) = \ln (6^{x})$

Step 3

Expand $\ln (6^{x})$ by moving $x$ outside the logarithm.

$(x - 1) \ln (5) = x \ln (6)$

Step 4

Solve the equation for $x$ .

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Step 4.1

Simplify $(x - 1) \ln (5)$ .

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Step 4.1.1

Rewrite.

$0 + 0 + (x - 1) \ln (5) = x \ln (6)$

Step 4.1.2

Simplify by adding zeros.

$(x - 1) \ln (5) = x \ln (6)$

Step 4.1.3

Apply the distributive property.

$x \ln (5) - 1 \ln (5) = x \ln (6)$

Step 4.1.4

Rewrite $- 1 \ln (5)$ as $- \ln (5)$ .

$x \ln (5) - \ln (5) = x \ln (6)$

Step 4.2

Subtract $x \ln (6)$ from both sides of the equation.

$x \ln (5) - \ln (5) - x \ln (6) = 0$

Step 4.3

Add $\ln (5)$ to both sides of the equation.

$x \ln (5) - x \ln (6) = \ln (5)$

Step 4.4

Factor $x$ out of $x \ln (5) - x \ln (6)$ .

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Step 4.4.1

Factor $x$ out of $x \ln (5)$ .

$x (\ln (5)) - x \ln (6) = \ln (5)$

Step 4.4.2

Factor $x$ out of $- x \ln (6)$ .

$x (\ln (5)) + x (- 1 \ln (6)) = \ln (5)$

Step 4.4.3

Factor $x$ out of $x (\ln (5)) + x (- 1 \ln (6))$ .

$x (\ln (5) - 1 \ln (6)) = \ln (5)$

Step 4.5

Rewrite $- 1 \ln (6)$ as $- \ln (6)$ .

$x (\ln (5) - \ln (6)) = \ln (5)$

Step 4.6

Divide each term in $x (\ln (5) - \ln (6)) = \ln (5)$ by $\ln (5) - \ln (6)$ and simplify.

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Step 4.6.1

Divide each term in $x (\ln (5) - \ln (6)) = \ln (5)$ by $\ln (5) - \ln (6)$ .

$\frac{x (\ln (5) - \ln (6))}{\ln (5) - \ln (6)} = \frac{\ln (5)}{\ln (5) - \ln (6)}$

Step 4.6.2

Simplify the left side.

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Step 4.6.2.1

Cancel the common factor of $\ln (5) - \ln (6)$ .

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Step 4.6.2.1.1

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{x (\ln (5) - \ln (6))}{\ln (5) - \ln (6)} = \frac{\ln (5)}{\ln (5) - \ln (6)}$

Step 4.6.2.1.2

Divide $x$ by $1$ .

$x = \frac{\ln (5)}{\ln (5) - \ln (6)}$

Step 5

The result can be shown in multiple forms.

Exact Form:

$x = \frac{\ln (5)}{\ln (5) - \ln (6)}$

Decimal Form:

$x = - 8.82746911 \dots$