Cool math Algebra Help Lessons: Radicals - Rationalizing the Denominator

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Coolmath Algebra
Radicals lesson 6 - Rationalizing the Denominator (page 1 of 3)
---- This algebra lesson explains how to rationalize the denominator.

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Let's fly back again to the days of dinosaurs and no calculators!

If math geeks had to calculate a decimal for something like

things got really ugly.

They'd have to use a table to get the value for ... Then, they'd have to do the long division by hand:

Yuck!

So, it was a LOT easier for them if there wasn't a radical in the denominator.

They created a fun little game called "rationalizing the denominator."

Here's how it goes:

3 / sqrt(2) = ( 3 / sqrt(2) )( sqrt(2) / sqrt(2) ) = ( 3*sqrt(2) ) / ( sqrt(2)*sqrt(2) ) = ( 3*sqrt(2) / sqrt(4) ) = ( 3*sqrt(2) ) / 2
Multiply by a magic 1.

Continued on the next page

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