How do you add and subtract radicals?

1 Answer
Apr 6, 2018

To add and subtract radicals, they must be the same radical

Explanation:

Given: How do you add and subtract radicals?

To add and subtract radicals, they must be the same radical

Example1: sqrt(5) + 2 sqrt(5) = 3 sqrt(5)

Example 2: 6 sqrt(2) - 2 sqrt(2) = 4 sqrt(2)

If you can simplify the square root by using perfect squares to make them the same radical, do it using sqrt(m*n) = sqrt(m)*sqrt(n)

Example 3: 6 sqrt(8) - 2 sqrt(2)

Simplify sqrt(8): " "sqrt(8) = sqrt(4) * sqrt(2) = 2 sqrt(2)

6 sqrt(8) - 2 sqrt(2) = 6*2 sqrt(2) - 2 sqrt(2) = 12sqrt(2) - 2 sqrt(2) = 10 sqrt(2)