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- Radicals and rational exponents
Simplifying rational exponents
Simplify:
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Key concepts
- The principal square root of a number
is the nonnegative number that when multiplied by itself equals
See
[link] .
- If
and
are nonnegative, the square root of the product
is equal to the product of the square roots of
and
See
[link] and
[link] .
- If
and
are nonnegative, the square root of the quotient
is equal to the quotient of the square roots of
and
See
[link] and
[link] .
- We can add and subtract radical expressions if they have the same radicand and the same index. See
[link] and
[link] .
- Radical expressions written in simplest form do not contain a radical in the denominator. To eliminate the square root radical from the denominator, multiply both the numerator and the denominator by the conjugate of the denominator. See
[link] and
[link] .
- The principal
n th root of
is the number with the same sign as
that when raised to the
n th power equals
These roots have the same properties as square roots.
See
[link] .
- Radicals can be rewritten as rational exponents and rational exponents can be rewritten as radicals. See
[link] and
[link] .
- The properties of exponents apply to rational exponents. See
[link] .
Section exercises
Verbal
What does it mean when a radical does not have an index? Is the expression equal to the radicand? Explain.
When there is no index, it is assumed to be 2 or the square root. The expression would only be equal to the radicand if the index were 1.
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Numeric
For the following exercises, simplify each expression.
Algebraic
For the following exercises, simplify each expression.
Real-world applications
A guy wire for a suspension bridge runs from the ground diagonally to the top of the closest pylon to make a triangle. We can use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the length of guy wire needed. The square of the distance between the wire on the ground and the pylon on the ground is 90,000 feet. The square of the height of the pylon is 160,000 feet. So the length of the guy wire can be found by evaluating
What is the length of the guy wire?
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Extensions
For the following exercises, simplify each expression.
Questions & Answers
(Pcos∅+qsin∅)/(pcos∅-psin∅)
how to answer the activity
how to solve the activity
Chabelita
solve for X,,4^X-6(2^)-16=0
sobhan Singh jina uniwarcity tignomatry ka long answers tile questions
t he silly nut company makes two mixtures of nuts: mixture a and mixture b. a pound of mixture a contains 12 oz of peanuts, 3 oz of almonds and 1 oz of cashews and sells for $4. a pound of mixture b contains 12 oz of peanuts, 2 oz of almonds and 2 oz of cashews and sells for $5. the company has 1080
If
, ,
are the roots of the equation
3 2 0,
x px qx r
Find the value of
1
.
Parts of a pole were painted red, blue and yellow. 3/5 of the pole was red and 7/8 was painted blue. What part was painted yellow?
Parts of the pole was painted red, blue and yellow. 3 /5 of the pole was red and 7 /8 was painted blue. What part was painted yellow?
Patrick
how I can simplify algebraic expressions
Lairene and Mae are joking that their combined ages equal Sam’s age. If Lairene is twice Mae’s age and Sam is 69 yrs old, what are Lairene’s and Mae’s ages?
lairenea's age is 23yrs
ACKA
Laurene is 46 yrs and Mae is 23 is
Solomon
age does not matter
christopher
solve for X, 4^x-6(2*)-16=0
Alieu
prove`x^3-3x-2cosA=0
(-π<A<=π
create a lesson plan about this lesson
Excusme but what are you wrot?
Source:
OpenStax, Algebra and trigonometry. OpenStax CNX. Nov 14, 2016 Download for free at https://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11758/1.6
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