Use the properties for radicals to simplify the espression. Assume all variables represent positive real numbers. sqrt 5/3 Yes that IS a real number. Only when there's a negative number under the radical do you not have a real number. Checkley71 above only gave you a decimal approximation, but I'm sure your teacher must not have wanted that, but the simplest radical form instead, which is found by rationalizing the denominator: ____ / 5 \ / --- \/ 3 To rationalize the denominator, choose the smallest integer that you can multiply the denominator 3 by to get a perfect square. That number is 3, since 3·3 = 9, which is a perfect square. So we multiply under the radical by 3/3, which will not change the value because 3/3 is just 1, and you don't change the value when you multiply by 1. ________ / 5 3 \ / ---×--- \/ 3 3 Multiply numerators and denominators: _____ / 15 \ / ---- \/ 9 Now we take square roots of the numerator and denominator: __ Ö15 ----- Ö9 _ Replace the denominator Ö9 by 3 __ Ö15 ----- 3 Edwin