$\small{\sqrt{\left(\sqrt7-\sqrt5\right)^2}+\sqrt{\left(\sqrt5-\sqrt3\right)^2}-\sqrt{\left(\sqrt3-\sqrt7\right)^2}}$

Project ID: 
3000000051
Question: 

Simplify the numerical expression $\sqrt{\left(\sqrt7-\sqrt5\right)^2}+\sqrt{\left(\sqrt5-\sqrt3\right)^2}-\sqrt{\left(\sqrt3-\sqrt7\right)^2}$.

Luke solved the task as follows: $$\begin{aligned} \sqrt{\left(\sqrt7-\sqrt5\right)^2}+\sqrt{\left(\sqrt5-\sqrt3\right)^2}-\sqrt{\left(\sqrt3-\sqrt7\right)^2}&\stackrel{(1)}=\cr \stackrel{(1)}=\left(\sqrt7-\sqrt5\right)+\left(\sqrt5-\sqrt3\right)-\left(\sqrt3-\sqrt7\right)&\stackrel{(2)}=\cr \stackrel{(2)}=\sqrt7-\sqrt5+\sqrt5-\sqrt3-\sqrt3+\sqrt7&\stackrel{(3)}=\cr \stackrel{(3)}=2\cdot\sqrt7-2\cdot\sqrt3&\stackrel{(4)}=\cr \stackrel{(4)}=2\cdot\left(\sqrt7-\sqrt3\right)& \end{aligned}$$

Is Luke's solution correct? If not, determine where Luke made a mistake in the procedure.

Answer 1: 

Luke's solution is correct.

Answer 2: 

The mistake is in equality (1). Luke incorrectly determined the value of some square root.

Answer 3: 

The mistake is in equality (2). Luke incorrectly removed some parentheses in the expression.

Answer 4: 

The mistake is in equality (3). Luke incorrectly calculated some values in the expression.

Fixed Answer: 
All Fixed
Correct Answer: 
Answer 2
Hint: 

In above presented solution, Luke incorrectly assumed that $\sqrt{a^2}=a$. However, this is true only for $a\geq0$. It is defined that: $$ \sqrt{a^2}=|a|=\left\{\begin{aligned} a\quad \mbox{for}\ a\geq0,\cr -a\quad \mbox{for}\ a<0.\end{aligned}\right. $$

Thus, Luke incorrectly determined the value of the square root $\sqrt{\left(\sqrt3-\sqrt7\right)^2}$. Since $\sqrt3-\sqrt7<0$, it holds $\sqrt{\left( \sqrt3-\sqrt7\right)^2}\neq\sqrt3-\sqrt7$ and $\sqrt{\left(\sqrt3-\sqrt7\right)^2}=\left|\sqrt3-\sqrt7\right|=-\left(\sqrt3-\sqrt7\right)=\sqrt7-\sqrt3$.

Correct solution is: $$\begin{aligned} \sqrt{\left(\sqrt7-\sqrt5\right)^2}+\sqrt{\left(\sqrt5-\sqrt3\right)^2}-\sqrt{\left(\sqrt3-\sqrt7\right)^2}&=\cr =\left(\sqrt7-\sqrt5\right)+\left(\sqrt5-\sqrt3\right)-\left(\sqrt7-\sqrt3\right)&=\cr =\sqrt7-\sqrt5+\sqrt5-\sqrt3-\sqrt7+\sqrt3&=0 \end{aligned}$$