Algebra Tutorials!  
     
Saturday 14th of December
   
Home
Square Roots and Radical Expressions
Solving Radical Equations
Simplifying Radical Expressions
Irrational Numbers in General and Square Roots in Particular
Roots of Polynomials
Simplifying Radical Expressions
Exponents and Radicals
Products and Quotients Involving Radicals
Roots of Quadratic Equations
Radical Expressions
Radicals and Rational Exponents
Find Square Roots and Compare Real Numbers
Radicals
Radicals and Rational Exponents
Theorems on the Roots of Polynomial Equations
SYNTHETIC DIVISION AND BOUNDS ON ROOTS
Simplifying Radical Expressions
Exponents and Radicals
Properties of Exponents and Square Roots
Solving Radical Equations
Rational Exponents and Radicals,Rationalizing Denominators
Rational Exponents and Radicals,Rationalizing Denominators
Quadratic Roots
Exponents and Roots
Multiplying Radical Expressions
Exponents and Radicals
Solving Radical Equations
Solving Quadratic Equations by Factoring and Extracting Roots
Newton's Method for Finding Roots
Roots of Quadratic Equations Studio
Roots, Radicals, and Root Functions
Review division factoring and Root Finding
Radicals
Simplifying Radical Expressions
Multiplying and Simplifying Radical Expressions
LIKE RADICALS
Multiplication and Division of Radicals
Radical Equations
BOUNDING ROOTS OF POLYNOMIALS
   
Try the Free Math Solver or Scroll down to Tutorials!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Please use this form if you would like
to have this math solver on your website,
free of charge.


Exponents and Roots

Example 14. What are the solutions of x3 = 0?
There is only one solution of x3 = 0, namely x = 0. This means that

Example 15. What are the solutions of x3 = −8?

The graph of the left-hand side of x3 = −8 is the cubic polynomial shown in
Figure 2. The graph of the right-hand side of x3 = −8 is a horizontal line located 8
units below the x-axis. The graphs have only one point of intersection, so the equation
x3 = −8 has exactly one real solution, denoted Now since (−2)3 = −8, it
follows that x = −2 is a real solution of x3 = −8. Consequently, the cube root of −8
is −2, and we write

Again, because there is only one real solution of x3 = −8, the notation is pronounced
“the cube root of −8.” Note that, unlike the square root of a negative number,
the cube root of a negative number is allowed.

Higher Roots: The previous discussions generalize easily to higher roots, such as
fourth roots, fifth roots, sixth roots, etc.
 

Definition 16. Given a real number a and a positive integer n, an “nth root of
a” is a number x such that xn = a.


For example, 2 is a 6th root of 64 since 26 = 64, and −3 is a fifth root of −243 since
(−3)5 = −243.

The case of even roots (i.e., when n is even) closely parallels the case of square roots.
That’s because when the exponent n is even, the graph of y = xn closely resembles
that of y = x2. For example, observe the case for fourth roots shown in Figures 3(a),
(b), and (c).

(a) No real solutions.

(b) One real solution.

(c) Two real solutions.

Figure 3. The solutions of x4 = a depend upon the sign and value of a.

The discussion for even nth roots closely parallels that presented in the introduction
of square roots, so without further ado, we go straight to the summary.

Summary: Even nth Roots

If n is a positive even integer, then the solutions of xn = a are called “nth roots
of a.”

• Case I: a < 0. The equation xn = a has no real solutions.
• Case II: a = 0. The equation xn = a has exactly one real solution, namely
x = 0. Thus,
• Case III: a > 0. The equation xn = a has two real solutions, The
notation calls for the positive nth root of a, that is, the positive solution
of xn = a. The notation − calls for the negative nth root of a, that is, the
negative solution of xn = a.

Likewise, the case of odd roots (i.e., when n is odd) closely parallels the case of cube
roots. That’s because when the exponent n is odd, the graph of y = xn closely resembles
that of y = x3. For example, observe the case for fifth roots shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. The graph of y = x5 intersects
the graph of y = a in exactly one
place.

The discussion of odd nth roots closely parallels the introduction of cube roots which
we discussed earlier. So, without further ado, we proceed straight to the summary.

Summary: Odd nth Roots

If n is a positive odd integer, then the solutions of xn = a are called the “nth
roots of a.” Whether a is negative, zero, or positive makes no difference. There is
exactly one real solution of xn = a, denoted

Remark 17. The symbols and for square root and nth root, respectively,
are also called radicals.

We’ll close this section with a few more examples.

Example 18. What are the solutions of x4 = 16?

The graph of the left-hand side of x4 = 16 is the quartic polynomial shown in
Figure 3(c). The graph of the right-hand side of x4 = 16 is a horizontal line, located
16 units above the x-axis. The graphs will intersect in two points, so the equation
x4 = 16 has two real solutions.

The solutions of x4 = 16 are called fourth roots of 16 and are written
It is extremely important to note the symmetry in Figure 3(c) and note that we have
two real solutions of x4 = 16, one of which is negative and the other positive. Hence,
we need two notations, one for the positive fourth root of 16 and one for the negative
fourth root of 16.

Note that 24 = 16, so x = 2 is the positive real solution of x4 = 16. For this positive
solution, we use the notation

This is pronounced “the positive fourth root of 16 is 2.”

On the other hand, note that (−2)4 = 16, so x = −2 is the negative real solution
of x4 = 16. For this negative solution, we use the notation



This is pronounced “the negative fourth root of 16 is −2.”

Example 20. What are the solutions of x5 = −32?

The graph of the left-hand side of x5 = −32 is the quintic polynomial pictured in
Figure 4. The graph of the right-hand side of x5 = −32 is a horizontal line, located
32 units below the x-axis. The graphs have one point of intersection, so the equation
x5 = −32 has exactly one real solution.

The solutions of x5 = −32 are called “fifth roots of −32.” As shown from the
graph, there is exactly one real solution of x5 = −32, namely Now since
(−2)5 = −32, it follows that x = −2 is a solution of x5 = −32. Consequently, the fifth
root of −32 is −2, and we write



Because there is only one real solution, the notation is pronounced “the fifth
root of −32.” Again, unlike the square root or fourth root of a negative number, the
fifth root of a negative number is allowed.

Not all roots simplify to rational numbers. If that were the case, it would not even
be necessary to implement radical notation. Consider the following example.

Example 21. Find all real solutions of the equation x2 = 7, both graphically and
algebraically, and compare your results.

We could easily sketch rough graphs of y = x2 and y = 7 by hand, but let’s seek a
higher level of accuracy by asking the graphing calculator to handle this task.

• Load the equation y = x2 and y = 7 into Y1 and Y2 in the calculator’s Y= menu,
respectively. This is shown in Figure 5(a).

• Use the intersect utility on the graphing calculator to find the coordinates of the
points of intersection. The x-coordinates of these points, shown in Figure 5(b) and
(c), are the solutions to the equation x2 = 7.

Figure 5. The solutions of x2 = 7 are x ≈ −2.645751 or x ≈ 2.6457513.

Guidelines for Reporting Graphing Calculator Solutions. Recall the standard
method for reporting graphing calculator results on your homework:

• Copy the image from your viewing window onto your homework paper. Label and
scale each axis with xmin, xmax, ymin, and ymax, then label each graph with its
equation, as shown in Figure 6.

• Drop dashed vertical lines from each point of intersection to the x-axis. Shade and
label your solutions on the x-axis.

Figure 6. The solutions of x2 = 7 are
x ≈ −2.645751 or x ≈ 2.6457513.

Hence, the approximate solutions are x ≈ −2.645751 or x ≈ 2.6457513.

On the other hand, to find analytic solutions of x2 = 7, we simply take plus or
minus the square root of 7.

To compare these exact solutions with the approximate solutions found by using the
graphing calculator, use a calculator to compute as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7. Approximating .

Note that these approximations of and agree quite nicely with the solutions
found using the graphing calculator’s intersect utility and reported in Figure 6.

Both and are examples of irrational numbers, that is, numbers that cannot
be expressed in the form p/q, where p and q are integers.

Rational Exponents

As with the definition of negative and zero exponents, discussed earlier in this section,
it turns out that rational exponents can be defined in such a way that the Laws of
Exponents will still apply (and in fact, there’s only one way to do it).

The third law gives us a hint on how to define rational exponents. For example,
suppose that we want to define . Then by the third law,

so, by taking cube roots of both sides, we must define by the formula

The same argument shows that if n is any odd positive integer, then must be
defined by the formula

However, for an even integer n, there appears to be a choice. Suppose that we want
to define . Then

so

However, the negative choice for the exponent 1/2 leads to problems, because then
certain expressions are not defined. For example, it would follow from the third law
that

But is negative, so is not defined. Therefore, it only makes sense to use
the positive choice. Thus, for all n, even and odd, is defined by the formula

In a similar manner, for a general positive rational , the third law implies that

But also,

Thus,

Finally, negative rational exponents are defined in the usual manner for negative
exponents:

More generally, here is the final general definition. With this definition, the Laws
of Exponents hold for all rational exponents.

Definition 22. For a positive rational exponent , and b > 0,

For a negative rational exponent − ,

Remark 25. For b < 0, the same definitions make sense only when n is odd. For
example is not defined.

Example 26. Compute the exact values of , and

Example 27. Simplify the following expressions, and write them in the form xr:

Example 28. Use rational exponents to simplify , and write it as a single
radical.

Example 29. Use a calculator to approximate .

Figure 8. ≈ 1.542210825

Irrational Exponents

What about irrational exponents? Is there a way to define numbers like and 3π? It
turns out that the answer is yes. While a rigorous definition of bs when s is irrational
is beyond the scope of this book, it’s not hard to see how one could proceed to find
a value for such a number. For example, if we want to compute the value of , we
can start with rational approximations for Since the
successive powers

should be closer and closer approximations to the desired value of .

In fact, using more advanced mathematical theory (ultimately based on the actual
construction of the real number system), it can be shown that these powers approach
a single real number, and we define to be that number. Using your calculator, you
can observe this convergence and obtain an approximation by computing the powers
above.


(a) Approximations of

Figure 9.

The last value in the table in Figure 9(a) is a correct approximation of to 10 digits
of accuracy. Your calculator will obtain this same approximation when you ask it to
compute directly (see Figure 9(b)).

In a similar manner, bs can be defined for any irrational exponent s and any b > 0.
Combined with the earlier work in this section, it follows that bs is defined for every
real exponent s.

Copyrights © 2005-2024