Concept

Repeating the Isolate-and-Square Steps in Radical Equations

In some radical equations, squaring both sides does not fully eliminate the radical — a variable may still remain inside a square root after the first squaring step. When this occurs, the solving procedure is not complete after a single application of Steps 1 and 2. Instead, the same two steps must be repeated: isolate the remaining radical on one side of the equation and then square both sides again. This second round of squaring removes the remaining radical, producing an equation that can be solved using standard algebraic techniques. The check step (Step 4) is still performed at the end, using the original equation.

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Updated 2026-04-21

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