GRE Math : How to find the common factor of square roots

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #2 :How To Find The Common Factor Of Square Roots

Which of the following is equivalent to:

?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To begin with, factor out the contents of the radicals. This will make answering much easier:

They both have a common factor. This means that you could rewrite your equation like this:

This is the same as:

These have a common. Therefore, factor that out:

Example Question #1 :How To Find The Common Factor Of Square Roots

Simplify:

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

These three roots all have ain common; therefore, you can rewrite them:

Now, this could be rewritten:

Now, note that

Therefore, you can simplify again:

Now, that looks messy! Still, if you look carefully, you see that all of your factors have; therefore, factor that out:

This is the same as:

Example Question #31 :Arithmetic

Simplify the following:

Possible Answers:

It cannot be simplified any further

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Begin by factoring each of the roots to see what can be taken out of each:

These can be rewritten as:

Notice that each of these has a common factor of. Thus, we know that we can rewrite it as:

Example Question #31 :Basic Squaring / Square Roots

Simplify the following:

Possible Answers:

The expression cannot be simplified any further.

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Clearly, all three of these roots have a common factorinside of their radicals. We can start here with our simplification. Therefore, rewrite the radicals like this:

We can simplify this a bit further:

From this, we can factor out the common:

Example Question #1 :How To Find The Common Factor Of Square Roots

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To attempt this problem, attempt to simplify the roots of the numerator and denominator:

Notice how both numerator and denominator have a perfect square:

Theterm can be eliminated from the numerator and denominator, leaving

Example Question #1 :Factoring Common Factors Of Squares And Square Roots

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

For this problem, begin by simplifying the roots. As it stands, numerator and denominator have a common factor ofin the radical:

And as it stands, thisis multiplied by a perfect square in the numerator and denominator:

Theterm can be eliminated from the top and bottom, leaving

Example Question #35 :Arithmetic

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To solve this problem, try simplifying the roots by factoring terms; it may be noticeable from observation that both numerator and denominator have a factor ofin the radical:

We can see that the denominator has a perfect square; now try factoring thein the numerator:

We can see that there's a perfect square in the numerator:

Since there is ain the radical in both the numerator and denominator, we can eliminate it, leaving

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