McGraw Hill Glencoe Geometry, 2012
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McGraw Hill Glencoe Geometry, 2012 View details
1. Points, Lines, and Planes
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Exercise 72 Page 12

To rationalize a fraction with a binomial denominator, we multiply the numerator and denominator of the fraction by the conjugate of the denominator.

10+sqrt(2)/7

Practice makes perfect

To rationalize a fraction with a binomial denominator, we multiply the numerator and denominator of the fraction by the conjugate of the denominator. We find the conjugate by changing the sign of the second term of the expression.

Binomial Conjugate
a + b a - b
a - b a + b

In this case, the conjugate of the denominator is 4+sqrt(2).

5/4-sqrt(2)
5(4+sqrt(2))/(4-sqrt(2))(4+sqrt(2))
20+5sqrt(2)/(4-sqrt(2))(4+sqrt(2))
20+5sqrt(2)/4^2-(sqrt(2))^2
20+2sqrt(2)/16-2
20+2sqrt(2)/14
â–¼
a/b=.a /2./.b /2.
2(10+sqrt(2))/2* 7
10+sqrt(2)/7