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Product Property of Square Roots

The Product Property of Square Roots states that the square root of a product equals the product of the individual square roots, provided both factors are non-negative. If aa and bb are non-negative real numbers, then:

ab=ab\sqrt{ab} = \sqrt{a} \cdot \sqrt{b}

This property is the square-root analogue of the Product to a Power Property for exponents, (ab)m=ambm(ab)^m = a^m b^m. Just as raising a product to a power distributes the exponent to each factor, taking the square root of a product distributes the radical to each factor.

The Product Property is the primary tool for simplifying square roots: it allows any perfect square factor to be separated from the radicand and evaluated independently. For instance, to simplify 50\sqrt{50}, rewrite 5050 as 25225 \cdot 2, then apply the property: 50=252=52\sqrt{50} = \sqrt{25} \cdot \sqrt{2} = 5\sqrt{2}. The result 525\sqrt{2} — the product of an integer and a square root — is the standard simplified form, with the integer always written in front of the radical.

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Updated 2026-04-21

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