Simplify the following expression: √48+√(16 3/9) Give your answer in the form: (a√3)/b where a and b are integers.

The key to this question is to stay calm and not let yourself be intimidated. You can use the information provided in the question to give you a clear direction to head in- you want to factorise out root 3 wherever possible, then combine the two terms. Here are the steps to a correct answer:1.√16 √3+ √(147/9) (In this step we're factorising the firm term to bring out a √3, and we're turning our mixed number into an easier to work with fraction.)2.4√3+ √(49/9) √3 (Here we've simplified root 16 to 4, and we've factorised the second term to isolate the root 3. You may have been tempted to simplify root 147/9 to root 49/3, however that's not the way to go as we want to isolate root 3s, not cancel them away!)3.4√3 + 7/3 √3 (Here we've simplified √(49/9) to just 7/3)4.12/3 √3+ 7/3 √3 (In this step we've converted 4 to 12/3, so we have a common denominator between the two terms, and can combine them easily)5.(19√3)/3 (The final step is just to combine the two terms!)

RW
Answered by Rob W. Maths tutor

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