Numbers: Powers and roots
Roots of fractions
We can also extract roots of fractions. For this, we have a useful calculation rule.
Roots of fractions
When we want to calculate the root of a fraction, we need to find a number that is equal to this fraction when squared. For #\sqrt{\green{\tfrac{4}{9}}}#, we are looking for a number that, when squared, equals #\green{\tfrac{4}{9}}#. This is #\blue{\tfrac{2}{3}}# because \[\left(\blue{\frac{2}{3}}\right)^2=\frac{\blue2^2}{\blue3^2}=\green{\frac{4}{9}}\]
We can therefore see that:
\[\sqrt{\green{\frac{4}{9}}}=\frac{\sqrt{\green4}}{\sqrt{\green9}}=\blue{\frac{2}{3}}\]
In general we can state:
The square root of a fraction is equal to the square root of the numerator divided by the square root of the denominator.
Examples
\[\begin{array}{rcl}\displaystyle \sqrt{\green{\frac{1}{4}}}&=&\displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{\green1}}{\sqrt{\green4}} \\ &=& \displaystyle \blue{\frac{1}{2}} \\ \\ \displaystyle \sqrt{\green{\frac{3}{4}}}&=&\displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{\green3}}{\sqrt{\green4}} \\ &=& \displaystyle \frac{\blue{\sqrt{3}}}{\blue2} \\ \\ \displaystyle \sqrt{\green{\frac{2}{3}}}&=&\displaystyle \frac{\blue{\sqrt{2}}}{\blue{\sqrt{3}}} \end{array}\]
#\begin{array}{rcl}\sqrt{\dfrac{9}{49}}&=&\dfrac{\sqrt{9}}{\sqrt{49}} \\ &&\phantom{xxx}\blue{\text{calculation rule: the square root of a fraction is equal to }} \\ &&\phantom{xxx}\blue{\text{the square root of the numerator divided by the square root of the denominator}}\\
&=& \dfrac{3}{7} \\ &&\phantom{xxx}\blue{\text{calculated roots}}\\
\end{array}#
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