What are the roots of $ x^{2} = 2^{x} $? I drew the graphs and found $ x = 2 $ and $ x = 4 $, and there is one other root in $ [-1,0] $. Can anyone describe an algebraic method to obtain all roots?
Asked
Active
Viewed 113 times
2
-
3This question was already asked here. There is no nice formula to get the solution. You either need numerical methods or the Lambert-W-Function. – Peter Nov 30 '15 at 19:03
-
The negative solution is $-0.7666646959621230931112044225$ – Peter Nov 30 '15 at 19:05
1 Answers
2
Taking the logarithm and assuming $x>0$,
$$2\ln(x)=x\ln(2),$$ or $$\frac{\ln(x)}x=\frac{\ln(2)}2.$$
The derivative of the LHS is $$\frac{1-\ln(x)}{x^2},$$ which has a single root at $x=e$.
As there is a single extremum and the function is continuous, the equation
$$\frac{\ln(x)}x$$has at most two roots, which you found.
For negative $x$, the equation turns to
$$\frac{\ln(-x)}x=\frac{\ln(2)}2.$$
As the LHS function is positive only on one side of the extremum, there is at most one negative root. This root exists as the function goes to $\infty$, but it has no closed form.
-
-
It has at most two positive solutions. But if $x<0$ then $\ln(x^2)$ is defined and $\ln(x)$ is not, so $\ln(x^2)=2 \ln(x)$ fails there. – Ian Nov 30 '15 at 19:07
-