Algebra II : Factoring Radicals

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Algebra II

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Example Questions

Example Question #11 : Simplifying Radicals

Simplify.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

When simplifying radicals, you want to factor the radicand and look for square numbers.

 

Both the  and  are not perfect squares, so the answer is just 

Example Question #12 : Simplifying Radicals

Simplify.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

When simplifying radicals, you want to factor the radicand and look for square numbers.

  is a perfect square so the answer is just 

Example Question #13 : Simplifying Radicals

Simplify.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

When simplifying radicals, you want to factor the radicand and look for square numbers.

If you aren't sure whether  can be factored, use divisibility rules. Since it's odd and not ending in , lets check if  is a possible factor. To know if a number is factorable by , you add the sum of the individual numbers in that number.

Since  is divisible by , just divide  by  and continue doing this. You should do this  more times and see that 

Since  is a perfect square, or  we can simplify the radical as follows.

Example Question #14 : Simplifying Radicals

Simplify.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

When simplifying radicals, you want to factor the radicand and look for square numbers.

 Since  is a perfect square but  is not, we can write it like this:

 

Remember, the other factor that's not a perfect square is left in the radicand and the square root of the perfect square is outside the radical. 

Example Question #15 : Simplifying Radicals

Simplify.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

When simplifying radicals, you want to factor the radicand and look for square numbers.

 

Since  is a perfect square but  is not, we can write it as follows:

 

Remember, the other factor that's not a perfect square is left in the radicand and the square root of the perfect square is outside the radical. 

Example Question #16 : Simplifying Radicals

Simplify.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

When simplifying radicals, you want to factor the radicand and look for square numbers.

 

Since  is a perfect square but  is not, we can write it like this:

 

Remember, the other factor that's not a perfect square is left in the radicand and the square root of the perfect square is outside the radical. 

If you didn't know  was a perfect square, there's a divisibility rule for . If the ones digit and hundreds digit adds up to the tens value, then it's divisibile by  so  is divisible by  and its other factor is also . It's best to memorize perfect squares up to 

Example Question #11 : Simplifying Radicals

Simplify.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

When simplifying radicals, you want to factor the radicand and look for square numbers.

 

It's essentially the same factor so the answer is .

Example Question #18 : Simplifying Radicals

Simplify.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Let's see if this quadratic can be broken down. Remember, we need to find two terms that are factors of the c term that add up to the b term.

It turns out that .

The second power and square root cancel out leaving you with just .

Example Question #19 : Simplifying Radicals

Simplify.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Let's factor a  out first since they divide evenly with all of the terms.

We get 

Let's see if this quadratic can be broken down. Remember, we need to find two terms that are factors of the c term that add up to the b term.

It turns out that .

We have  perfect squares so the final answer is 

Example Question #20 : Simplifying Radicals

Simplify.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

When simplifying radicals, you want to factor the radicand and look for perfect squares.

  are perfect squares so the answer is

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