Solving radical equations
Topic Notes
Radical equations are equations that have variables stunk inside a radical. We will show you how to solve this type of equations in this lesson.
3-step approach for solving radical equations:
1) Isolate the "square root" term.
2) i. Square both sides of the equation to get rid of the "square root".
ii. (optional) If the resulting equation still has a "square root" term, repeat steps 1 and 2.
3) Solve the equation, and REMEMBER to substitute answers back into the original equation to identify any EXTRANEOUS ROOTS,
1) Isolate the "square root" term.
2) i. Square both sides of the equation to get rid of the "square root".
ii. (optional) If the resulting equation still has a "square root" term, repeat steps 1 and 2.
3) Solve the equation, and REMEMBER to substitute answers back into the original equation to identify any EXTRANEOUS ROOTS,
Basic Concepts
- Converting radicals to entire radicals
- Adding and subtracting radicals
- Multiplying and dividing radicals
- Rationalize the denominator