A radical expression is essentially any algebraic expression that contains a radical, also known as a root. Examples of radical expressions are:
$$\sqrt{x}+1$$ | $$\sqrt{x^2-1}$$ | $$\sqrt{2}-\sqrt{3}$$ | $$\sqrt{x}+\frac{1}{\sqrt{x}}$$ |
$$(5x-\sqrt{x})^2$$ | $$\frac{2}{\sqrt{2}-\sqrt{3}}$$ | $$\frac{\sqrt{x}}{\sqrt{x}-x}$$ | $$(\sqrt{2}-\sqrt{5})(\sqrt{2}+\sqrt{5})$$ |
Over the next few lessons we will be discussing these expressions, and how to carry out arithmetic with them! We will start specifically with a discussion on what radicals mean, how they can be written as exponents, and how cancellation of powers works.