WRITING RATIONAL EXPONENTS AS RADICALS

LESSON READ-THROUGH
by Dr. Carol JVF Burns (website creator)
Follow along with the highlighted text while you listen!
• PRACTICE (online exercises and printable worksheets)
• This page gives an in-a-nutshell discussion of the concepts.
Want more details, more exercises?
• Want some practice with the other direction?

As long as everything is defined,

$\displaystyle \cssId{s7}{x^{p/q}} \cssId{s8}{= (x^p)^{1/q}} \cssId{s9}{= \root q\of{x^p}}$

or

$\displaystyle \cssId{s11}{x^{p/q}} \cssId{s12}{= (x^{1/q})^p} \cssId{s13}{= (\root q\of{x})^p}$

In both cases, the denominator in the exponent indicates the type of root.
The numerator in the exponent is a power, which can go either inside or outside the radical.

EXAMPLES:

Write in radical form:

$x^{1/2} = \sqrt{x}$
$x^{1/3} = \root 3\of {x}$
$\cssId{s21}{x^{3/2}} \cssId{s22}{= \sqrt{x^3}} \cssId{s23}{= (\sqrt{x})^3}$
$\displaystyle x^{-1/2} = \frac{1}{\sqrt{x}}$
$\displaystyle 3x^{-1/5} = \frac{3}{\root 5\of{x}}$
Master the ideas from this section
by practicing the exercise at the bottom of this page.

When you're done practicing, move on to:
Practice with Rational Exponents
CONCEPT QUESTIONS EXERCISE:
On this exercise, you will not key in your answer.
However, you can check to see if your answer is correct.
You may assume that $\,x\,$ is positive,
so that everything is defined.
PROBLEM TYPES:
 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
AVAILABLE MASTERED IN PROGRESS
 Write in radical form:
 (MAX is 10; there are 10 different problem types.)