In mathematics, expression containing the root of an
irrational number that can never be exactly expressed – for example, √3 = 1.732050808... .
√3 can be expressed in
index notation as 3
1/2 or 3 to the
power half.
Simplifying surds (roots) Expressions involving surds can be factorized numerically to simplify them. For example, to simplify √20 + √5:
√20 = √(4 × 5) = √4 × √5 = 2√5, so
√20 + √5 = 2√5 + √5 = 3√5
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