Week 5 – Solving Radical Equations

The solving of radical equations can be difficult to maneuver at times and understanding what each consecutive step may potentially look like can sometimes prove more challenging. The main ideas to remember when working to solve a radical equation are as follows; what you do to one side of the equation you must do to the other, squaring and square rooting are inverse operations (squaring will cancel out the radical sign), and lastly it is only an equation if it contains an EQUALS SIGN. When faced with a radical equation you must start by diving both side by the coefficient (if there is one), next square both sides of the equation in order to eliminate the radical sign. Now the equation should resemble a very simple algebraic equation, all you need to do now is simply continue solving for X, this may include adding or subtracting values on each side and/or dividing in order to isolate. Always be sure to include and list the restrictions at the end as well as check your answer, this is done by substituting the variable in the original equation for your answer and checking to see weather or not the left side equals the right side. If it does not, it could mean that you have an extraneous solution.

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