[MsTaylor23]

Question:

square root 16/ square root 32

I was thinking it would go something like this

4/square root 32=4/2square root 16=4/8=1/2

[MsTaylor23]

Square root 8 + square root 32

[MsTaylor23]

^3 square root(-8x^12)=?

[MsTaylor23]

(2 square root 3-1) (3 square root 3+4)

I have no idea what to do on this

I know its something life factoring

[Capuchin]

I've merged these because they are all ambiguous.

Your topic says something about square roots, but your questions don't have any square roots in them.

If it's squared, you can denote this by putting ^2 (to the power 2) after the number. If it's square root, you can denote the same by putting ^0.5 after the number.

Otherwise, you can try learning how to use the TeX on this board which will allow you to set yout type properly.

[MsTaylor23]

I apologize. I was writing these questions half asleep. I changed them so that they are correct.

[Capuchin]

I'll do the first one for you, then you have a go at the rest.

[MsTaylor23]

The only thing that I did not do for that question was put the square root sign on the 2.

[Capuchin]

I have tried to show you why there should be a root sign in my working. Do you understand why?

By "only missing the root sign on the 2", you had in fact completely missed the point of the question, which was teaching you how to factorise within exponents.

That's like getting 2 as an answer where the real answer is 12 and saying "oh, i just forgot to put the 1 in front of the 2". If it's wrong, it's wrong, don't comfort yourself with excuses :)

[MsTaylor23]

so for the square root 8 + square root 32, I got
2 square root 4+ square root 16*2
=2 square root 2 + 4 square root 2
=6 square root 2

[MsTaylor23]

I am not trying to use excuses for anything. I am practicing what I am posting on my scrap piece of paper. I did not know if I had done it right. I thought once you got to the end you got rid of the square root sign.

[Capuchin]

How did you get from to in the 2nd and 3rd lines?

[Capuchin]

No, you didn't get rid of the root sign, you're making excuses again, the error was further back in your working.

[MsTaylor23]

Okay. If you want to be right, that is fine. I just want some help. I don't want a lecture. Please just help me and not make me feel like crap. I am really trying to learn these.

[MsTaylor23]

Because square root of 4 is 2. That's how I got that.

[Capuchin]

but you wrote root4 = root2

??

[Capuchin]

Sorry I know this is very tricky to remember everything that you have to do.

For that question:



I think you got that one right but you might have written down your working wrong.

Your working, as you wrote it, is wrong.

[MsTaylor23]

Okay, I don't even know how to do the next one. I know that you can use the FOIL method but this is complicating.
(2 square root3 -1) (3square root3 +4)

How would I start this problem?

[ebaines]

Right - although you had a typo in the 2nd line: sqrt(8) = sqrt(2*4), which equals 2 sqrt(2). As indeed you show in th 3rd line.

[Capuchin]

FOIL isn't complicating at all!

I used to be like you! If it looks complicated then we think it IS complicated, this is hardly ever the case though if you work through it.

I normally do FILO, because I never learnt the FOIL method, I just do it the way that makes the most sense to me:



Can you carry on from there? It's just a case of simplification now.

You NEED to learn FOIL or another way to expand brackets. It's a very essential skill. The above example was simple and you should be able to do it.