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Mathematics for SHS 1: Simple Notes on Surds

Have you been struggling to understand this concept of mathematics? Kindly

make some time to comb through the lines below. Follow every line and you
will appreciate the value contained herein.

These short notes take you through step by step method for you to understand
the concept of surds.

Surds are a fundamental concept in mathematics, and they involve irrational

numbers written in a specific form. An irrational number is a number that
cannot be expressed as a simple fraction (ratio) of two integers and has a non-
repeating, non-terminating decimal expansion.

Some key points about surds to note

Definition

A surd is an expression containing an irrational number, usually represented as

√n, where "n" is a positive integer that cannot be expressed as the exact
square root of any other positive integer. For example, √2, √3, and √5 are all
surds because they cannot be simplified to a whole number.

Simplifying Surds

You can simplify surds by finding the largest perfect square that divides the
number under the radical sign. For example:

- √12 can be simplified to 2√3 because 12 = 4 x 3, and √4 = 2.

- √50 can be simplified to 5√2 because 50 = 25 x 2, and √25 = 5.

Operations with Surds

Addition and Subtraction

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You can add or subtract surds only if they have the same irrational part.

For example, √2 + √2

= 2√2 , but you cannot simplify √2 + √3 any further.

Multiplication

To multiply surds, you can simply multiply the numbers outside the radicals
and multiply the numbers inside the radicals.

For example, √2 x √3

= √(2 x 3)

= √6.

Division

To divide surds, you can divide the numbers outside the radicals and divide the
numbers inside the radicals.

For example,

= √4

= 2.

Rationalizing the Denominator

Sometimes, it's necessary to get rid of surds in the denominator of a fraction.
To do this, you multiply both the numerator and denominator by a suitable
expression that will eliminate the surd. For example:

Rationalize the denominator of :

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Further examples

Example 1, Simplifying Surds

Simplify √18.

To simplify √18, we need to find the largest perfect square that divides 18. In
this case, 9 is the largest perfect square that does so:

√18

= √(9 x 2)

= √9 x √2

= 3√2

√18 simplifies to 3√2.

Example 2, Surd Addition and Subtraction

Evaluate √5 + √20.

We can't directly add these surds because they don't have the same irrational
part. However, we can simplify them first:

√5 + √20

= √5 + √(4 x 5)

= √5 + 2√5
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Now that they have the same irrational part, we can add them

√5 + 2√5

= 1√5 + 2√5

= 3√5

So, √5 + √20 = 3√5.

Example 3, Surd Multiplication

Multiply √7 by √14.

To multiply these surds, simply multiply the numbers outside the radicals and
the numbers inside the radicals:

√7 x √14

= √(7 x 14)

= √98

Now, let's simplify √98:

√98

= √(49 x 2)

= √49 x √2

= 7√2

So, √7 x √14 = 7√2.

Example 4, Surd Division

Divide √15 by √3.

To divide these surds, divide the numbers outside the radicals and the
numbers inside the radicals:
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= √5

So, √15 divided by √3 equals √5.

Example 5, Rationalizing the Denominator

Rationalize the denominator of

To rationalize the denominator, we multiply both the numerator and

denominator by the conjugate of the denominator:

But square root of 4 is 2

So, the rationalized form of is

=1

WASSCE-style questions on rationalizing the denominator using the simple

square root symbol (√):
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Factorize the numerator

2 can divide the themselves

Now solve the following

i.