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How to get rid of a square root in the denominator?.

User Giorgia Sambrotta
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2 Answers

20 votes
20 votes

Final answer:

To remove a square root from the denominator, multiply both the numerator and the denominator by the same square root to rationalize the denominator. For square roots of exponentials, ensure the exponent is divisible by 2, then take the square root of the digit and halve the exponent.

Step-by-step explanation:

To get rid of a square root in the denominator, multiply both the numerator and the denominator by the same square root. This process is known as rationalizing the denominator. For example, if you have a fraction such as \(\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\), you multiply both top and bottom by \(\sqrt{2}\) to get \(\frac{\sqrt{2}}{\sqrt{2} \times \sqrt{2}}\), which simplifies to \(\frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}\). When dealing with exponentials, as in taking square roots of exponentials, adjust the term so that the power of 10 is evenly divisible by 2, then extract the square root of the digit term and divide the exponential term by 2.

It's important to remember that when rationalizing the denominator with cube roots or higher roots, the same principle applies but with the specific root. For example, when dealing with a cube root, you would need to multiply by the cube root squared to eliminate the root from the denominator.

User Zebasz
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5 votes
5 votes

Step-by-step explanation:

you multiply both the top and bottom by the root if it was alone.

let's say if we had (1 - sqrt(2)) in the denominator. here we multiply both the numerator and the denominator by the conjugate.

the conjugate is formed by changing the sign between two terms in a binomial. so in this case the conjugate is

(sqrt(2) -1)

make sure to ask if you need any further guidance :)

User Chaosaffe
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