NAME ______________________________________________ DATE______________________________ PERIOD ______________

6-4 Study Guide and Intervention

nth Roots
Simplify Radicals
Square Root For any real numbers a and b, if a2 = b, then a is a square root of b.

nth Root For any real numbers a and b, and any positive integer n, if an = b, then a is an nth root of b.

Real nth Roots of b, 1. If n is even and b > 0, then b has one positive real root and one real negative root.
√n b, – √n b 2. If n is odd and b > 0, then b has one positive real root.
3. If n is even and b < 0, then b has no real roots.
4. If n is odd and b < 0, then b has one negative real root.

Example 1: Simplify √ 49 z 8. z 4 must be positive, so there is no need to take the

absolute value.
√ 49 z 8 = √ ¿ ¿ = 7 z 4 Example 2: Simplify – √3 (2 a−1)6
3 3
– ( 2 a−1 )6 = − [ ( 2 a−1 )¿¿ 2]3 ¿ = – ( 2 a−1 )2
√ √
Exercises
Simplify.
3
1.√ 81 2.√ −343 3. √ 144 p6

5 3
4.±√ 4 a10 5.√ 243 p 10 6. – √ m6 n 9

3
7.√ −b12 8.√ 16 a10 b8 9. √ 121 x 6

3
10. (4 k )4
√ 11. ±√ 169 r 4 12. – √ −27 p6

13. – √ 625 y 2 z 4 14. √ 36 q34 15. √ 100 x 2 y 4 z 6

3
16.√ −0.027 17. – √ −0.36 18. √ 0.64 p10

4
19. √ (2 x)8 20. (11 y ¿¿ 2)4 ¿
√ √3
21. (5 a¿ ¿2 b)6 ¿

22. (3 x−1)2
√ √3
23. (m−5)6 24. √ 36 x 2−12 x +1

Chapter 6 25 Glencoe Algebra 2

NAME ______________________________________________ DATE______________________________ PERIOD ______________

6-4 Study Guide and Intervention (continued)

nth Roots
Approximate Radicals with a Calculator

Irrational Number a number that cannot be expressed as a terminating or a repeating decimal

Radicals such as √ 2 and √ 3 are examples of irrational numbers. Decimal approximations for irrational numbers are often
used in applications. These approximations can be easily found with a calculator.

Example: Use a calculator to approximate √5 18 .2 to three decimal places.

√5 18.2 ≈ 1.787
Exercises
Use a calculator to approximate each value to three decimal places.
3
1. √ 62 2. √ 1050 3. √ 0.054

4
4. – √ 5.45 5. √ 5280 6. √ 18,600

3 5
7. √ 0.095 8. √ −15 9.√ 100

6
10. √ 856 11. √ 3200 12. √ 0.05

4
13. √ 12,500 14. √ 0.60 15. – √ 500

3 6
16. √ 0.15 17. √ 4200 18. √ 75

19. LAW ENFORCEMENT The formula r = 2 √ 5 L is used by police to estimate the speed r in miles per hour of a car
if the length L of the car’s skid mark is measured in feet. Estimate to the nearest tenth of a mile per hour the speed of
a car that leaves a skid mark 300 feet long.

20. SPACE TRAVEL The distance to the horizon d miles from a satellite orbiting h miles above Earth can be
approximated by d = √ 8000 h+h2 . What is the distance to the horizon if a satellite is orbiting 150 miles above Earth?

Chapter 6 26 Glencoe Algebra 2