The current human population in the world is about:

When compared to other children, stepchildren have:

What percentage of school-age children in the United States currently live with single, formerly married mothers?

Interpret the Solution(s) on the Graph: How would the solution(s) appear on the graph of ?

Locate the Solution(s) on a Graph of Two Functions: The graph below was generated by sketching functions from the equation . The blue graph is the function  and represents the left side of the equation. The red graph is the function  and represents the right side of the equation. Which points (A, B, C, D) on the graph represent solutions to the equation? Select all that are solutions.

Continue Solving: After both sides of the equation are squared, the next step is to collect all terms on one side of the equation. Which of the following is the equation that results when all terms have been collected on one side?

Identify the Basic Graph: The algebraic expression on the left side of the equation represents a function. What is the shape of the graph of the function ?  

Interpret the Solution(s) Graphically: The graph below was generated by sketching functions from the radical equation . The blue curve is the function  and represents the left side of the equation. The red curve is the function  and represents the right side of the equation. The dotted gold curve is the function . This represents the bottom half of the parabola that is NOT part of the equation. Click on the part of the graph that shows the actual solution to the radical equation .

Set up the Equations: Absolute value represents distance. Absolute value equations separate into two separate equations because we must consider the distance in both the left and right directions.   The equation splits into these two equations: Equation in the left direction:   Equation in the right direction:    

Solve the Quadratic Equation: Since the function on the left side is a 2nd degree trinomial, the equation can be solved by either or . The solution(s) to this quadratic equation are (smaller value) and (larger value). The solutions to the quadratic equation are potential solutions to the square root equation.