Simplifying Radical Expressions

Navigation

Resources

Simplifying Radical Expressions
A radical expression has been simplified when it meets the following conditions: -The index (n) is as small as possible. -The radicand contains no factors (except ‘1’) that are nth powers of an integer or polynomial. -The radicand contains no fractions. -No radicals appear in any denominator.

A radical expression has been simplified when it meets the following conditions:

-The index (n) is as small as possible.

-The radicand contains no factors (except ‘1’) that are nth powers of an integer or polynomial.

-The radicand contains no fractions.

-No radicals appear in any denominator.

Let's try to simply a radical expression:

Figure 1.

We're almost finished. According to Step #4, we need to remove the radical from the denominator:

Figure 2.

Now, we have a simplified answer that meets all four conditions.