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Asked by: Earleen Lorden
business and finance interest ratesHow do you rationalize square root fractions?
Rationalize the Denominator
- Multiply Both Top and Bottom by a Root. Sometimes we canjust multiply both top and bottom by a root:
- Multiply Both Top and Bottom by the Conjugate. There is anotherspecial way to move a square root from the bottom of afraction to the top we multiply both top and bottom by theconjugate of the denominator.
Simply so, how do you rationalize a fraction?
So, in order to rationalize the denominator, we need to getrid of all radicals that are in the denominator.
- Step 1: Multiply numerator and denominator by a radical thatwill get rid of the radical in the denominator.
- Step 2: Make sure all radicals are simplified.
- Step 3: Simplify the fraction if needed.
- Separate your number's digits into pairs.
- Find the largest integer n whose square is lesser than or equalto the leftmost number (or pair).
- Subtract the number you just calculated from the leftmostpair.
- Drop down the next pair.
- Fill in the blank spaces in the right quadrant.
Also to know is, how do you divide by a square root?
Method 1 Dividing Radicands
- Set up a fraction. If your expression is not already set uplike a fraction, rewrite it this way.
- Use one radical sign. If your problem has a square root in thenumerator and denominator, you can place both radicands under oneradical sign.
- Divide the radicands.
- Simplify, if necessary.
How to Simplify Radicals Steps
- Find the largest perfect square that is a factor of theradicand.
- Rewrite the radical as a product of the square root of 4 (foundin last step) and its matching factor(2)
- Simplify.
- Find the largest perfect square that is a factor of theradicand (just like before)