How do you add and subtract radicals like: #sqrt(6/3) -sqrt(9/3)#?

1 Answer
Joe D.
Apr 1, 2015

The root operator is prior to addition. So we need to calculate each square root operation independently. We cannot combine #6/3# and #9/3#.

The precedence is: Exponents=Roots>Multiplication=Division>Addition=Subtraction

For further information: Order of Operations, Wikipedia

#sqrt(6/3) - sqrt(9/3) = sqrt(2) - sqrt(3) #

So the answer is #sqrt(2) - sqrt(3)#.

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