Key Concepts & Glossary
Key Concepts
- The principal square root of a number is the nonnegative number that when multiplied by itself equals .
- If and are nonnegative, the square root of the product is equal to the product of the square roots of and
- If and are nonnegative, the square root of the quotient is equal to the quotient of the square roots of and
- We can add and subtract radical expressions if they have the same radicand and the same index.
- 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.
- The principal nth root of is the number with the same sign as that when raised to the nth power equals . These roots have the same properties as square roots.
- Radicals can be rewritten as rational exponents and rational exponents can be rewritten as radicals.
- The properties of exponents apply to rational exponents.
Glossary
index the number above the radical sign indicating the nth root principal nth root the number with the same sign as that when raised to the nth power equals principal square root the nonnegative square root of a number that, when multiplied by itself, equals radical the symbol used to indicate a root radical expression an expression containing a radical symbol radicand the number under the radical symbolLicenses & Attributions
CC licensed content, Specific attribution
- College Algebra. Provided by: OpenStax Authored by: OpenStax College Algebra. Located at: https://cnx.org/contents/9b08c294-057f-4201-9f48-5d6ad992740d@3.278:1/Preface. License: CC BY: Attribution.