Question #7fed6
2 Answers
You may write radicals as fractional powers.
Explanation:
In multiplication, you add the powers, so:
Explanation:
Here's an alternative approach
root(5)(a^4) * root(3)(a^2) = a^n
Once again, the first thing to do is rewrite your radicals as exponents by using
color(blue)(root(y)(a^x) = a^(x/y))
In your case, you have
root(5)(a^4) = a^(4/5)" " and" "root(3)(a^2) = a^(2/3)
Now focus on the exponents. Find their common denominator, which in this csae is
4/5 * 3/3 = (12)/15" " and" "2/3 * 5/5 = 10/15
Now the equation becomes
a^(12/15) * a^(10/15) = a^n
If you want to play aroun with the exponents a bit, you can convert back to radical form
a^(12/15) = root(15)(a^12)" " and" "a^(10/15) = root(15)(a^(10))
Now you have
a^(12/15) * a^(10/15) = root(15)(a^12) * root(15)(a^(10)) = a^n
This is equivalent to
root(15)( a^12 * a^10) = a^n
Once again,
color(blue)(a^x * a^y = a^(x+y)
so you get
root(15)(a^(12 + 10)) = a^n
root(15)(a^(22)) = a^n
Finally, convert back to exponent form to get
a^(22/15) = a^n implies n = color(green)(22/15)