How do I rationalised and simplify surds?

Say I have a fraction with 2 surds, such as √10 / √6. To rationalise this, we need to get the dominator (bottom fraction) to be an integer. As √10 / √6 x 1 still gives √10 / √6, and we can write 1 as √6 / √6, we can do (√10 / √6) x (√6 / √6) = √(10 x 6) / 6 = √60 / 6.

This is now rationalised, as the demonator is no longer a surd, however it is not in its simplest form yet. To get this we can simplify √60 to give √(4 x 15) = √4 x √15 = 2√15. In the fraction this gives 2√15 / 6 which cancels down to √15 / 3.

Answered by Tabitha G. Maths tutor

3352 Views

See similar Maths GCSE tutors

Related Maths GCSE answers

All answers ▸

John is n years old where n is an whole number. Kim is three years younger than John and Vanessa is half of Kim's age. Write an expression for Vanessa's age in terms of n.


Solve the simultaneous equations: 15x+10y=20 4x+5y=17


Find the lowest common multiple and highest common factor of 30 and 60.


Factorise and thus solve: x^2– 2x– 24 = 0


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2024

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy