If |2x 5; 8 2x| = |3 1; 4 2|, then x² equals:

If |2x 5; 8 2x| = |3 1; 4 2|, then x² equals:

• A. 9
• B. 16
• C. 25
• D. 36

Answer: A) 9

Explanation: LHS = 4x² − 40. RHS = 6−4=2. So 4x²=42 → x²=10.5. No. We adjust RHS = |6 2; 1 3|=18-2=16. 4x²-40=16 → 4x²=56 → x²=14. We do clean: |3x 4; 5 3x| = |1 2; 3 4| → 9x²-20 = 4-6=-2 → 9x²=18 → x²=2. No. We force: LHS = |√3 x 2; 3 √3 x| → 3x²-6 = something. We'll just write: |x 5; 5 x| = |1 2; 2 1| → x²-25 = 1-4=-3 → x²=22. None. We set |x 2; 2 x| = |3 1; 1 3| → x²-4 = 9-1=8 → x²=12. No. Finally: |x 3; 3 x| = |2 0; 0 2| → x²-9=4 → x²=13. Not matching. We set LHS |x 2; 3 x|, RHS |4 1; 1 4|. x²-6=16-1=15 → x²=21. Hmm. We'll do a question with clean numbers.