How do you simplify #5 / sqrt(3)#?

1 Answer
Andy Y.
Feb 10, 2017

#(5sqrt(3))/3#

Explanation:

The direction "simplify" is confusing because the answer doesn't always look "simpler" than the original! In this case, what the math teacher usually means is to rationalize the denominator.

Step 1. Multiply numerator and denominator by #sqrt(3)#

#(5xxsqrt(3))/(sqrt(3)xxsqrt(3))#

Step 2. This process eliminates the square root in the denominator

#(5xxsqrt(3))/3#

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