Radical Equations (Jump to: Lecture | Video )

Radical Equations

Equations can contain variables under radicands. These are called radical equations.

Below we have a radical equation. It is solved much like a regular equation:

Figure 1.

Because we're working with radicals, your original solution may not always work:

Extraneous Solutions

Make sure to check your final answer. If your final answer doesn’t work in the original equation, it is an extraneous solution.

Figure 2.

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