Simplify #1/sqrt2+3/sqrt8+6/sqrt32#. Help, Plz?

2 Answers
May 1, 2018

The way I would answer this is by first simplifying the bottom denominators as you need those to add. To do this I would multiply #1/sqrt2# by 16 to get #16/sqrt32#. I would multiply #3/sqrt8# by 4 to get #12/sqrt32#. This leaves you with #16/sqrt32 + 12/sqrt32 + 6/sqrt32#. From here we can add these to get #34/sqrt32#. We can simplify this even more by dividing by two to get #17/sqrt16# this is as simplified as this equation gets.

May 1, 2018

#2sqrt2#

Explanation:

First we need a common denominator. In this case, we'll use #sqrt32#.

Convert #1/sqrt2# by multiplying it by #sqrt16/sqrt16#

#1/sqrt2 * sqrt16/sqrt16 = sqrt16/sqrt32#

We must also convert #3/sqrt8# by multiplying it by ##

#3/sqrt8 * sqrt4/sqrt4 = (3sqrt4)/sqrt32#

This leaves us with a simple equation:

#sqrt16/sqrt32 + (3sqrt4)/sqrt32 + 6/sqrt32#

Now we simplify the numerators, and finish the equation.

#4/sqrt32 + 6/sqrt32 + 6/sqrt32 = 16/sqrt32#

We can also simplify this.

#16/sqrt32 = 16/(4sqrt2) = 4/sqrt2#

If necessary, this can be rationalized.

#4/sqrt2 * sqrt2/sqrt2 = (4sqrt2)/2 = 2sqrt2#