Lesson 1: Radical notation

I. Basic knowledge
1. The nth root.
- A number c is said to be square root of a if c 2=a.
- A number c is said to be cube root of a if c 3=a.

Definition of nth root:

A number c is said to be the nth root of a if c n=a.

- The symbol √ a denotes the non-negative square root of a .

The symbol √3 a denotes the real number cube root of a .

The symbol √n is called radical.

The expression under the radical is called the radicand.
The number n (which is omitted when it is 2) is called the index.
- Any real number has only one real odd root.
- Any positive number has two even-index roots, one positive and one
negative.
The positive root is called the principal root.
2. Simplifying radical expressions.
Let a and b be any real number or expressions for which the given
roots exist. For any natural numbers m and n (n ≠ 1):
n
 If n is even, √ an =|a|.  If n is odd, √n an =a.
a √n a
 √n a × √n b=√n ab.
m

√
n
=
b √n b
(b ≠ 0).

 √n am =( √n a ) .

Vocabulary
New word Meaning New word Meaning

II. Examples:
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EXAMPLE 1.1
a. Explain why absolute value is not necessary for √ x 4=x 2.
1 √a
b. Show that = for a> 0.
√a a
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EXAMPLE 1.2
Simplify:
a. √ 20 b. √ 2× √ 8 c. 3 √ 10× 4 √10
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EXAMPLE 1.3
a. If the cube has a surface area of 96 a 2, what is its volume?
A. 32 a3 B. 48 a3 C. 64 a3 D. 96 a 3
b. If x=81 b2 and b> 0, then √ x=¿
A. −9 b B. 9 b C. 3 b √ 27 D. 27 b √ 3

III. Exercises:
Simplify each epression:
4
a. √ 54 a2 b2 b. √ 60 x5 y 6 c.
√6
3 8 2 √5
d.
√ 10
e.
3−√ 2
f.
−4 + √ 8
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A certain type of bacteria, if left alone, doubles its number every 2 hours. If therp
are amount of bacteria at a certain point in time, after 24 hour, there number of
bacteria is incerased to 4.096 × 106. Find out the number of bacteria at first.
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Heron’s formula can used to calculate the area A of a triangle given the three side
lengths a , b and c .
A=√ s (s−a)(s−b)(s−c), where 2 s=a+ b+c
a. Find the value of s if the side lengths of a triangle are 13, 10 and 17 meters.
b. Determine the area of this triangle.
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A equilateral triangle is shown at the right.

a. Find an expression for its height h in terms of a .
b. Find an expression for its area A in terms of a .

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2 1
The formular for the kinetic energy of a moving object is E= m v , where E is the
2
kinetic energy in joules, m is the mass in kilograms, and v is the velocity in meters
per second.
a. Solve the equation for v.
b. Find the velocity of an object whose mass is 0.6 kilograms and whose kinetic
energy is 54 joues.
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Calculate the series below:

1 1 1 1
S= + + +…+
√ 1−√ 2 √ 2− √3 √3−√ 4 √ 2019− √2020
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