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Surd ss2

The document explains the concept of surds, which are irrational numbers that cannot be expressed as exact square roots. It covers the reduction of surds to their basic form, as well as the rules for adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing surds. Additionally, it discusses the process of rationalization, which involves rewriting expressions to eliminate surds from the denominator.

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20 views8 pages

Surd ss2

The document explains the concept of surds, which are irrational numbers that cannot be expressed as exact square roots. It covers the reduction of surds to their basic form, as well as the rules for adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing surds. Additionally, it discusses the process of rationalization, which involves rewriting expressions to eliminate surds from the denominator.

Uploaded by

ameenawashere
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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You should be able to recall from your previous knowledge of numbers that a number that is

"square" is one that can be expressed as the square of some other rational number. For
example



But not all numbers are rational numbers that is they do not have exact square roots. Examples
are

Definitions

The square roots of numbers that do not have exact square roots are called Surds.

Such numbers are known as irrational numbers.


Although approximate square roots of such (i.e, irrational) numbers can be found from tables of
square roots, it is usually simpler to work with SURDS themselves. Note also that at this level
whenever you deal with square roots, only positive square roots are considered.

Reduction to Basic Form

Any surd which contains a square number as a factor within the radical (i.e, the square root sign) is not
in the basic form

For example these


are not in the basic form as they can be reduced further through simplification.

The following examples will illustrate this concept:

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

From example 1 to 3 cannot be simplified further; they have been reduced to the
basic form. Surds that cannot be further simplified are said to be in their basic form.

Addition and Subtraction of Similar Surds

Surds that are in the basic form can be added and subtracted.

The examples below will illustrate the idea.

Solution:

First reduce all to their basic forms That is,


)

RHS (the right hand side)

Notice that the above surds can be added or subtracted because they are in similar form, that is,
numbers under the radical signs are the same and they have the same index. Mixed surds such
as are not similar, so they cannot be added or subtracted, that is, they cannot be
simplified further.

Multiplication and Division of Surds

Multiplication and division of surds are carried out by two basic laws of surds.

i) For multiplication of surds, the rule is:

Examples: 1

Example 2

For division the following rule applies:

Examples:

√
Example

Rationalization of Surd

Rationalization is all about moving the surd (√) or complex number to the numerator. Rationalization
does not change the value of a number or function but only re-writes it in a more acceptable and most
times easier to understand form. “Rationalizing the denominator” is when we move a root (like a square
root or cube root) from the bottom of a fraction to the top.

When the denominator of an expression is a surd which can be reduced to an expression with the
rational denominator, this process is known as rationalizing the denominator of the surd. In other
words, the process of reducing a given surd to a rational form after multiplying it by a suitable surd is
known as rationalization.

When the product of two surds is a rational number, then each of the two surds is called rationalizing
factor of the other. In other words, if the product of two surds is rational, then each is called a
rationalizing factor of the other and each is said to be rationalized by the other.
Examples of rationalization of surds
Example 1:

Example 2:
Example 3:

=
=

= 4+ +3

= 7+

Example 4:

= x

=
=

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