Date____________________

HW Honors p248 (16-56) evens

Regular p248(16-24) evens
(28-50) evens

Notes
Section 5.5 – Roots of Real Numbers
The symbol n
indicates an nth root

n
50

SQUARE ROOTS
When we raise a number to the second power, we say that we have squared the number. Sometimes we may
need to find the number that was squared. We call this process finding a square root of a number.

For example:
5 is a square root of 25 because 52 = 5 5 = 25 •
-5 is a square root of 25 because (-5)2 = (-5) ( -5) = 25 •
The number -4 does not have a real number square root because there is no real number b such that b2=-4

SQUARE ROOTS

Every positive real number has two real number square roots
The number 0 has just one square root, 0 itself.
Negative numbers do not have real number square roots.

Directions: Simplify
EX 1. ST1.

a.) ± 25 x 4 a.) ± 25 x 4

_______________ _______________

b.) − (y 2
+2 ) 8
b.) − (y 3
+5 ) 4

_______________ _______________

c.) 5
32 x 15 y 20 c.) 5
243 x 10 y 15

_______________ _______________

d.) −9 d.) −4

_______________ _______________

Directions : Use a calculator to approximate each value to THREE DECIMAL PLACES

EX2. ST2.

a.) 77 _______________ a.) - 147 _______________

b.) - 3
19 _______________ b.) 4
602 _______________

c.) 4
48 _______________ c.) 3
− 480 _______________

SIMPLIFYING USING ABSOLUTE VALUES

When you find the nth root of an even power and the result is an odd power you must take the absolute value to
ensure a positive answer. (ONLY WORKS WITH VARIABLES)

EX3.

1.) 8
x8 _______________

2.) 4
81 ( a +1)12 _______________

3.) 4 x 2 + 4 x +1 _______________

4.) 64 x 6 _______________

ST3.

1.) 2
16 x 6 _______________

2.) 4
16 ( x + 2) 4 _______________

3.) x 2 + 4x + 4 _______________

4.) 49 x 2 _______________