N-RN.2

[Anonymous]

Hi all – if students were asked to rewrite sqrt(12) + sqrt(3), am I correct that the approach the standards are suggesting is rewriting the radicals as rational exponents and then using the properties of exponents? So, 12^(1/2) + 3^(1/2), then (4*3)^(1/2) + 3^(1/2) and so on? Now that I write it, it kind of seems obvious that this is the intent of the standard – but what I typically see in my high school is teachers treating radicals as a separate thing with their own set of rules and procedures that involve simplifying and collecting “like terms”.

[Bill McCallum]

I think the standard allows either approach. But yes, you are right, the idea is not to treat radicals as a separate thing, but to connect them with rational exponents and the rules of exponents.

[Author]

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