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Elementary and Intermediate Algebra
Mark Dugopolski, Southeastern Louisiana University

Radicals and Rational Exponents

Key Terms


complex conjugates  The numbers a + bi and a - bi.
complex number  Any number that can be written in the form a + bi, in which a and b are real numbers and i equals the square root of -1.
cube of a  The expression a3.
cube root of a  A number b such that b3 = a.
exponent  A value that indicates the number of times a base is used as a factor.
imaginary number  A complex number in which the real part is 0.
imaginary unit  The imaginary number i.
index of a radical  The number n in a1/n.
like radicals  Radicals with the same radicand and the same index.
nth root of a  A number b such that bn = a.
odd root  A number b such that bn = a where n is an odd number.
principal root  The positive even root of a positive number.
radical  The root of a quantity denoted by an expression under a radical sign.
radicand  The quantity under a radical sign.
rational exponent  An exponent that is a rational number.
square of a  The expression a2.