
Important: Please use " ^ " to indicate exponentiation: 3x^2 + 1 = 28.
The correct solution follows:
Subtract 1 from both sides: 3x^2 + 1 = 28 => 3x^2 = 27 => x^2 = 9, and x = plus or minus 3.
This person's solution was OK until the last step, where she mistakenly gave the sqrt of 9 the values -9 and +9. Again, the correct answers are -3 and +3.