Hi,

I have a question about the wording in a math problem. I'm simplifying Radical Expressions and Rational Exponents, and I'm confused what this means - "Assume that all variables are positive." Does this mean that I should ignore the negative root and just list the positive root?

Thanks! =)

Question

Hi, 

I have a question about the wording in a math problem. I'm simplifying Radical Expressions and Rational Exponents, and I'm confused what this means - "Assume that all variables are positive." Does this mean that I should ignore the negative root and just list the positive root?

 Thanks! =)

anonymous · Answer

Yep exactly.  Whenever you take the square root (or radical) of something, you'll get two answers every time since you're dealing with a polynomial (degree greater than 1).  Imagine a parabola where it intersects the graph at x.  It always has two points it intersects the x-axis, thus two answers.  So when the question asks to take the positive square root, get rid of the other one that is negative.  Hope this helps!

anonymous · Answer

Wow! Thanks, berlingots!  That certainly was very helpful. :) I really appreciate it!

anonymous · Answer

No problem. Anytime.