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Solve: .
The quadratic term is isolated. | |
Divide by 5 to make its cofficient 1. | |
Simplify. | |
Use the Square Root Property. | |
Simplify the radical. | |
Rewrite to show two solutions. | |
Check the solutions.
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The Square Root Property started by stating, ‘If , and ’. What will happen if ? This will be the case in the next example.
Remember, we first isolate the quadratic term and then make the coefficient equal to one.
Solve: .
Isolate the quadratic term. | |
Multiply by to make the coefficient 1. | |
Simplify. | |
Use the Square Root Property. | |
Simplify the radical. | |
Simplify. | |
Rewrite to show two solutions. | |
Check.
|
The solutions to some equations may have fractions inside the radicals. When this happens, we must rationalize the denominator.
We can use the Square Root Property to solve an equation like , too. We will treat the whole binomial, , as the quadratic term.
Solve: .
Use the Square Root Property. | |
Simplify. | |
Write as two equations. | |
Solve. | |
Check.
|
Solve: .
Use the Square Root Property. | |
Simplify the radical. | |
Solve for y . | |
Rewrite to show two solutions. | |
Check.
|
Remember, when we take the square root of a fraction, we can take the square root of the numerator and denominator separately.
We will start the solution to the next example by isolating the binomial.
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