Adding exponents

[rmyoungsc]

Say you have root(16+16). Can you not break this apart into root 16 + root 16. You must add what's under the root?

[papa.baffour]

From what I remember from the number properties guide, you CAN NOT split up roots when adding them. I think the furthest you can go with this problem is root 32.

[Kweku.Amoako]

you can split when the expression is addtion or subtraction but you can when it is mutiplication or division

eg root( 16 + 16 ) = root( 32) = root( 16 x 2 ) = root(16) x root(2) = 4 x root(2)

[Kweku.Amoako]

sorry I meant you can not split...

[Ben Ku]

You cannot separate things under the sqrt that are added or subtracted. You can only separate things that are multiplied or divided. You should simplify what's under the root before simplifying the root itself.

Specifically, these properties hold:
sqrt(ab) = sqrt(a) * sqrt(b)
sqrt(a/b) = sqrt(a) / sqrt(b)

However, these are NOT properties of square roots and are NOT true:
sqrt(a + b) ≠ sqrt(a) + sqrt (b)
sqrt(a - b) ≠ sqrt(a) - sqrt (b)

Hope that helps!