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Before you get started, take this readiness quiz.
We have used the Product Property of Square Roots to simplify square roots by removing the perfect square factors. The Product Property of Square Roots says
We can use the Product Property of Square Roots ‘in reverse’ to multiply square roots.
Remember, we assume all variables are greater than or equal to zero.
We will rewrite the Product Property of Square Roots so we see both ways together.
If a , b are nonnegative real numbers, then
So we can multiply in this way:
Sometimes the product gives us a perfect square:
Even when the product is not a perfect square, we must look for perfect-square factors and simplify the radical whenever possible.
Multiplying radicals with coefficients is much like multiplying variables with coefficients. To multiply we multiply the coefficients together and then the variables. The result is . Keep this in mind as you do these examples.
Simplify: ⓐ ⓑ .
Notice that in (b) we multiplied the coefficients and multiplied the radicals. Also, we did not simplify . We waited to get the product and then simplified.
When we have to multiply square roots, we first find the product and then remove any perfect square factors.
The results of the previous example lead us to this property.
If a is a nonnegative real number, then
By realizing that squaring and taking a square root are ‘opposite’ operations, we can simplify and get 2 right away. When we multiply the two like square roots in part (a) of the next example, it is the same as squaring.
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