1-6 Radicals (Day 1) and

Rational Exponents (Day 2)

 What is a Radical?
In simplest term, the definition of the radical
( ) is this:

2
If a > 0 then a  x where x > 0 and x  a

= Principle Square Root

= The Positive root
 n
Now extend to when x  a :
The Principle nth root of a: n
a
n
1. If a > 0 then
n
a =x such that x  a

2. n
0 0
3. If a < 0 and n is odd then n
ais a negative
number such that x n  a.

4. If a < 0 and n is even, n

ais not real.
 AUGH! What was all that?
Vocab Word

That was the Mathlish for evaluating radical

expressions where the index ≠ 2. Lets
learn the vocabulary before we practice the
problems.
Radical Expression

n
a
Index or Root
Radicand

***If n is missing, then it is understood to be 2

 Form of a Radical Problem
3 3
1. 8  2 because 2  8
3 3
2. 8  2 because (2)  8
Notice this
3. 5
243  5
3  3
5
method!!

4
4. 1 
 Rules of Radicals
n
1. a  n b  n ab
n
a n
a
2. 
n
b b
m n
3. a  mn a

So, the goal today will be to pull out perfect roots

(perfect squares, cubes, etc). Prime factoring will
often help.
 Practice problems
Simplify each expression
3
1. 20 5. 64
3
2. 81 6. 50  72
2 2
3. 3
317
7. 3 27x  7 12x
3
4. 4  4 3
3 1 3 6
8.  81x
24