SOLUTION: I never took introduction to algebra so im totally lost with this..can anyone help?? While the radical symbol is widely used, converting to rational exponents has advantages. Ex

Algebra ->  Square-cubic-other-roots -> SOLUTION: I never took introduction to algebra so im totally lost with this..can anyone help?? While the radical symbol is widely used, converting to rational exponents has advantages. Ex      Log On


   

Question 72472: I never took introduction to algebra so im totally lost with this..can anyone help??
While the radical symbol is widely used, converting to rational exponents has advantages. Explain an advantage of rational exponents over the radical sign. Include in your answer an example of an equation easier to solve as a rational exponent rather then a radical sign.
Answer by jim_thompson5910(35256) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
You can write square roots as rational exponents. What this means is that this is possible
sqrt%28x%29=x%5E%281%2F2%29
One way this is useful is when you multiply or divide this with other values with exponents
Ex:
x%5E2%2Asqrt%28x%29=x%5E2%2Ax%5E%281%2F2%29=x%5E%282%2B1%2F2%29=x%5E%283%2F2%29Lets plug in some numbers so this makes sense. Let x=4
4%5E2%2Asqrt%284%29=4%5E2%2A4%5E%281%2F2%29=4%5E%282%2B1%2F2%29=4%5E%283%2F2%29=8 (4^3/2 is the same as saying the square root of 4 cubed)
It's also useful when squaring a square root, or taking the square root of a squared number
Ex:
%28sqrt%28x%29%29%5E2=%28x%5E2%29%5E%281%2F2%29=x%5E%282%2F2%29=x%5E1=x
Hope this helps.