Example

Simplifying 98a7b5\sqrt{98a^7b^5}

Simplify the square root 98a7b5\sqrt{98a^7b^5} by extracting the largest perfect square factors.

Step 1 — Find the largest perfect square factor. For the coefficient 98, the largest perfect square factor is 49. For the variables a7a^7 and b5b^5, the largest even powers are a6a^6 and b4b^4. Together, the largest perfect square factor is 49a6b449a^6b^4. Rewrite the radicand as the product of this perfect square and the remaining factors 2ab2ab: 98a7b5=49a6b42ab\sqrt{98a^7b^5} = \sqrt{49a^6b^4 \cdot 2ab}

Step 2 — Apply the Product Property. Separate the expression into two radicals: 49a6b42ab=49a6b42ab\sqrt{49a^6b^4 \cdot 2ab} = \sqrt{49a^6b^4} \cdot \sqrt{2ab}

Step 3 — Simplify. Simplify the perfect square root. Since 49=7\sqrt{49} = 7, a6=a3\sqrt{a^6} = |a^3| (absolute value is required because an odd power is extracted from an even principal root), and b4=b2\sqrt{b^4} = b^2: 49a6b42ab=7a3b22ab\sqrt{49a^6b^4} \cdot \sqrt{2ab} = 7|a^3|b^2\sqrt{2ab}

The final simplified form is 7a3b22ab7|a^3|b^2\sqrt{2ab}.

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Updated 2026-07-03

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Ch.8 Roots and Radicals - Intermediate Algebra @ OpenStax

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