Problem

Simplify (3+ square root of 18)/(1+ square root of 8)

Your question asks for the simplification of a mathematical expression that contains radicals (square roots). Specifically, it involves the simplification of a rational expression where the numerator is the sum of a number and the square root of 18, and the denominator is the sum of 1 and the square root of 8. The objective is to manipulate this expression to get to a simpler form, potentially by rationalizing the denominator, which means getting rid of the square root in the denominator by multiplying both the numerator and the denominator by a suitable expression.

$\frac{3 + \sqrt{18}}{1 + \sqrt{8}}$

Answer

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Solution:

Step:1

Refine the numerator.

Step:1.1

Express $18$ as $9 \times 2$.

Step:1.1.1

Extract $9$ from $18$. $\frac{3 + \sqrt{9 \cdot 2}}{1 + \sqrt{8}}$

Step:1.1.2

Represent $9$ as $(3^2)$. $\frac{3 + \sqrt{3^2 \cdot 2}}{1 + \sqrt{8}}$

Step:1.2

Extract square roots where possible. $\frac{3 + 3\sqrt{2}}{1 + \sqrt{8}}$

Step:2

Streamline the denominator.

Step:2.1

Express $8$ as $4 \times 2$.

Step:2.1.1

Extract $4$ from $8$. $\frac{3 + 3\sqrt{2}}{1 + \sqrt{4 \cdot 2}}$

Step:2.1.2

Represent $4$ as $(2^2)$. $\frac{3 + 3\sqrt{2}}{1 + \sqrt{2^2 \cdot 2}}$

Step:2.2

Extract square roots where possible. $\frac{3 + 3\sqrt{2}}{1 + 2\sqrt{2}}$

Step:3

Multiply $\frac{3 + 3\sqrt{2}}{1 + 2\sqrt{2}}$ by the conjugate $\frac{1 - 2\sqrt{2}}{1 - 2\sqrt{2}}$.

Step:4

Consolidate the fractions.

Step:4.1

Multiply the numerators. $\frac{(3 + 3\sqrt{2})(1 - 2\sqrt{2})}{(1 + 2\sqrt{2})(1 - 2\sqrt{2})}$

Step:4.2

Expand the denominator using the difference of squares. $\frac{(3 + 3\sqrt{2})(1 - 2\sqrt{2})}{1 - (2\sqrt{2})^2}$

Step:4.3

Simplify the denominator. $\frac{(3 + 3\sqrt{2})(1 - 2\sqrt{2})}{-7}$

Step:5

Expand the numerator using the distributive property.

Step:5.1

Distribute terms. $\frac{3(1 - 2\sqrt{2}) + 3\sqrt{2}(1 - 2\sqrt{2})}{-7}$

Step:5.2

Further distribute. $\frac{3 - 6\sqrt{2} + 3\sqrt{2}(1 - 2\sqrt{2})}{-7}$

Step:5.3

Complete the distribution. $\frac{3 - 6\sqrt{2} + 3\sqrt{2} - 6(2)}{-7}$

Step:6

Combine like terms and simplify.

Step:6.1

Simplify each term.

Step:6.1.1

Multiply $3$ by $1$. $\frac{3 - 6\sqrt{2} + 3\sqrt{2} - 12}{-7}$

Step:6.2

Combine numerical terms. $\frac{-9 - 6\sqrt{2} + 3\sqrt{2}}{-7}$

Step:6.3

Combine like radical terms. $\frac{-9 - 3\sqrt{2}}{-7}$

Step:7

Remove the negative from the fraction. $\frac{9 + 3\sqrt{2}}{7}$

Step:8

The expression is already simplified.

Step:9

No further factoring is necessary.

Step:10

The expression remains unchanged.

Step:11

Final simplification is not needed.

Step:12

The result in various forms:

Exact Form: $\frac{9 + 3\sqrt{2}}{7}$ Decimal Form: Approximately $1.8918$

Knowledge Notes:

The problem-solving process involves simplifying a complex fraction by rationalizing the denominator. This is done by multiplying the fraction by the conjugate of the denominator to eliminate the square root from the denominator. The steps include:

  1. Simplifying Square Roots: Expressing numbers under the square root as a product of squares and other numbers to simplify the square root.

  2. Rationalizing the Denominator: Multiplying the numerator and the denominator by the conjugate of the denominator to eliminate the square root from the denominator.

  3. FOIL Method: Stands for First, Outer, Inner, Last, which is a technique used to expand the product of two binomials.

  4. Difference of Squares: Recognizing that $(a + b)(a - b) = a^2 - b^2$ and applying it to simplify expressions.

  5. Distributive Property: Applying the property $a(b + c) = ab + ac$ to expand expressions.

  6. Combining Like Terms: Grouping and simplifying terms that have the same variable to the same power.

  7. Power Rules: Using rules like $a^m a^n = a^{m+n}$ and $(a^m)^n = a^{mn}$ to simplify expressions with exponents.

  8. Simplification: The process of reducing an expression to its simplest form by performing all possible operations and combining like terms.

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