How do you solve Log (x+5) - log (x-1) = log (x+2) - log (x-3)?

1 Answer
Nov 21, 2015

x=13

Explanation:

To do this problem, you must know that log(a)+log(b)=log(ab) and that log(a)-log(b)=log(a/b).

log(x+5)-log(x-1)=log(x+2)-log(x-3)

log(x+5)+log(x-3)-log(x-1)-log(x+2)=0

log(((x+5)(x-3))/((x-1)(x+2)))=0

Remember that log(a) is another way of writing log_10(a).

10^(log(((x+5)(x-3))/((x-1)(x+2))))=10^0

((x+5)(x-3))/((x-1)(x+2))=1

(x+5)(x-3)=(x-1)(x+2)

x^2+2x-15=x^2+x-2

2x-15=x-2

x=13