View Full Version : Radical Expressions
nike23
Jul 12, 2007, 08:19 AM
sumone help me simplify these? The "^" means to the power of the number that follows it
√54x^3y^5
2√12x^4y^5
0.5√8x^4y^3
3√75x^3y^5
4√x^3yz^6
Capuchin
Jul 12, 2007, 08:28 AM
Here's a trick for you.
Let's take a made up example:
6 \sqrt{4x^2y}
Now, a square root is the same as raising to the power of 0.5 so:
6 \sqrt{4x^2y} = 6(4x^2y)^{\frac{1}{2}}
Now we can use power rules:
6(4x^2y)^{\frac{1}{2}} = 6(4^{\frac{1}{2}}(x^2)^{\frac{1}{2}}y^{\frac{1}{2} }) = 6(\sqrt{4}x^{2*\frac{1}{2}}y^{\frac{1}{2}}) = 6(2x \sqrt{y}) = 12x \sqrt{y}
Simple eh?
Now you have a go at yours.
nike23
Jul 12, 2007, 08:40 AM
Lol, its not as easy as you say it is. Can u help me do at least one or 2 of my selected problems?
s_cianci
Jul 15, 2007, 07:51 PM
Break down each coefficient inside of each radical in the usual way. For example, 54 = 9 * 6 , 12 = 4 * 3 , etc. As for the variables, divide each exponent by 2. The quotient becomes the power of the rational part that comes out of the radical and the remainder (which will be 0 or 1 and the 0 case will be redundant) becomes the power of the irrational part which stays inside the radical.
ShannonMathWiz
Apr 15, 2008, 06:00 PM
Chigga Chigga Wha