Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
In the case of two nested square roots, the following theorem completely solves the problem of denesting. [2]If a and c are rational numbers and c is not the square of a rational number, there are two rational numbers x and y such that + = if and only if is the square of a rational number d.
An unresolved root, especially one using the radical symbol, is sometimes referred to as a surd [2] or a radical. [3] Any expression containing a radical, whether it is a square root, a cube root, or a higher root, is called a radical expression , and if it contains no transcendental functions or transcendental numbers it is called an algebraic ...
In elementary algebra, root rationalisation (or rationalization) is a process by which radicals in the denominator of an algebraic fraction are eliminated.. If the denominator is a monomial in some radical, say , with k < n, rationalisation consists of multiplying the numerator and the denominator by , and replacing by x (this is allowed, as, by definition, a n th root of x is a number that ...
A simple fraction (also known as a common fraction or vulgar fraction) [n 1] is a rational number written as a/b or , where a and b are both integers. [9] As with other fractions, the denominator (b) cannot be zero. Examples include 1 / 2 , − 8 / 5 , −8 / 5 , and 8 / −5 .
A result from the study of irrational numbers as simple continued fractions was obtained by Joseph Louis Lagrange c. 1780. Lagrange found that the representation of the square root of any non-square positive integer as a continued fraction is periodic. That is, a certain pattern of partial denominators repeats indefinitely in the continued ...
A solution in radicals or algebraic solution is an expression of a solution of a polynomial equation that is algebraic, that is, relies only on addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, raising to integer powers, and extraction of n th roots (square roots, cube roots, etc.). A well-known example is the quadratic formula
The result is an equation with no fractions. The simplified equation is not entirely equivalent to the original. For when we substitute y = 0 and z = 0 in the last equation, both sides simplify to 0, so we get 0 = 0, a mathematical truth.
The quadratic formula =. is a closed form of the solutions to the general quadratic equation + + =. More generally, in the context of polynomial equations, a closed form of a solution is a solution in radicals; that is, a closed-form expression for which the allowed functions are only n th-roots and field operations (+,,, /).