Question

How do you simplify `12 - 6 sqrt 2`?

Answer 1

It's already in simplest form, though you could also write it as `6(2-sqrt{2})` and as `12-sqrt{72}`.

Explanation:

The form `6(2-sqrt{2})` comes from factoring and the form `12-sqrt{72}` comes from the fact that `6sqrt{2}=sqrt{36}sqrt{2}=sqrt{36*2}=sqrt{72}`.