%% LyX 2.3.4.2 created this file. For more info, see http://www.lyx.org/. %% Do not edit unless you really know what you are doing. \documentclass[english]{article} \usepackage[T1]{fontenc} \usepackage[latin9]{inputenc} \usepackage{color} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{babel} \begin{document} \title{How to Solve $x^{2}+x+6\sqrt{x+2}=18$?} \author{Amit Yaron} \date{June 15, 2021} \maketitle When I see such equations, I like to have a perfect square under the radical. Here, we can see that $x=2$ is a solution. How to find others? There are 2 ways: 1 square both sides after one side contains the radical only, but I don't like squaring a sum of 3 terms. The second is by the substitution: \[ t=\sqrt{x+2}\Rightarrow t^{2}=x+2\Rightarrow x=t^{2}-2 \] Now, let us plug it into the equation: \begin{align*} (t^{2}-2)^{2}+t^{2}-2+6t & =18\Rightarrow\\ \Rightarrow t^{4}-4t^{2}+4+t^{2}-2+6t=18 & \Rightarrow\\ \Rightarrow t^{4}-3t^{2}+6t+2=18 & \Rightarrow\\ \Rightarrow t^{4}-3t^{2}+6t-16=0 & \Rightarrow\\ \Rightarrow t^{4}-16-(3t^{2}-6t)=0 & \Rightarrow\\ \Rightarrow t^{4}-2^{4}-3t(t-2)=0 & \Rightarrow\\ \Rightarrow(t-2)(t^{3}+2t^{2}+4t+8)-3t(t-2)=0 & \Rightarrow\\ (t-2)(t^{3}+2t^{2}+t+8)=0 \end{align*} One solution is: \[ t=2\geq0\Rightarrow x=t^{2}-2=2 \] Great! But, I cannot find rational roots of the cubic equation: \[ t^{3}+2t^{2}+t+8=0 \] But never mind, because \[ t=0\Rightarrow t^{3}+2t^{2}+t+8=8 \] and the polynomial increases where $t\geq0$ So, the polynomial has negative zeros only and negative numbers are not square roots. So, the only real solution is: \[ \boxed{{\color{red}x=2}} \] \end{document}