Unit 1 Tutorials: Performing Operations

with Real Numbers

INSIDE UNIT 1

Essential Concepts

Real Number Types

Adding and Subtracting Positive and Negative Numbers
Multiplying and Dividing Positive and Negative Numbers
Introduction to Order of Operations
Introduction to Absolute Value
Operations as Grouping Symbols

Exponents

Properties of Exponents
Negative Exponents
Fractional Exponents and Radicals
Properties of Fractional and Negative Exponents
Writing Numbers in Scientific Notation
Multiplication and Division in Scientific Notation

Radicals and College Algebra in Context

Evaluating Radicals
Simplifying Radical Expressions
Applying the Properties of Radicals
Calculating Diagonals
Area
Volume
Converting Units

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 Real Number Types
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn how to differentiate between rational and irrational numbers. Specifically,
this lesson will cover:
1. Real Number Types
1a. Natural Numbers
1b. Whole Numbers
1c. Integers
1d. Rational Numbers
1e. Irrational Numbers
2. Distinguishing Between Rational and Irrational Numbers

 BEFORE YOU START

To begin our study of real numbers, let’s take a historical perspective.

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 Counting has been part of human activity since ancient times, coinciding with the development of spoken
language and trade. Around 8000 BCE in the Middle East, people began using written numbers. Farmers, cattle
herders, and traders employed tokens, stones, or markers to represent quantities—such as a sheaf of grain, a
head of livestock, or a specific length of cloth. This practice facilitated commerce, enhancing communication
and contributing to the spread of civilization.

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 A few thousand years later, Egyptians introduced fractions. Initially, they employed them to express reciprocals
—for instance, determining how many loaves of bread could serve a specific number of people. Later, fractions
were used to represent quantities when dividing a whole into equal parts.

At least as early as 500 BCE, people recognized that not all numbers could be expressed as fractions. For
example, a builder would find that the diagonal of a square with 1-unit sides was slightly less than 1½, but there
was no precise fraction for it. Similarly, a garment maker would realize that the ratio of circumference to
diameter for a roll of cloth was a little more than 3 and a bit less than 3¼, yet no exact fraction could represent
it. These numbers are called “irrational” because they cannot be expressed as ratios or fractions.

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 Imagine a situation where there were no cattle to trade, or an entire crop of grain was lost due to a flood. How
could someone express the absence of quantity? It wasn’t until around 500 CE in India that zero was formally
introduced into the number system and used as a numeral in calculations. Additionally, there arose a need for
numbers to represent loss or debt. In 7th-century India, negative numbers were employed as solutions to
mathematical equations and for tracking debts. These negative numbers expanded the number system beyond
just counting, allowing for more versatile mathematical operations. The image above depicts the Mayan
numeral for zero, showcasing how different civilizations approached this fundamental concept.

As we discuss these number types, you can see how each emerged as a necessity for the most basic uses of
math in commerce, construction, and trades.

1. Real Number Types

As you have likely experienced previously to this course, numbers can be expressed in decimal form,
sometimes presented as whole numbers, fractions, or decimals. The collection of all these numbers is called the
real numbers.

Remember that decimal numbers use base 10, and each digit in a decimal number has place value.

EXAMPLE Consider the number 421.357.

As you can see, each digit has a place value associated with it. Anything to the right of the decimal point is
considered a part of a whole number.

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 EXAMPLE Whole numbers and fractions are also examples of real numbers.

Number Explanation

This can be written as 32.0, 32.00, etc. In general, any whole number can be written as a
32
decimal and is therefore a real number.

The decimal equivalent is 0.75.

 TERM TO KNOW

Real Number
Any number that can be represented in decimal form.

1a. Natural Numbers

When you first learned how to count, what was the first number you started with? It was most likely “1,” and then
you proceeded to count to 2, 3, etc.

 BIG IDEA

The set of numbers {1, 2, 3, ...} is called the natural numbers, sometimes also called the “counting numbers”.

 TERM TO KNOW

Natural Numbers
The numbers 1, 2, 3, ....

1b. Whole Numbers

Having the natural numbers already established, how would “nothing” be represented? For example, if
someone had 3 apples and then they ate them all, how many remain? This number is not represented in the
natural numbers.

To this end, we need a new set of numbers to add 0 to the natural numbers.

 BIG IDEA

The set of whole numbers is {0, 1, 2, 3, ...}, which is essentially the set of natural numbers with 0 also
included.

 TERM TO KNOW

Whole Numbers
The natural numbers with 0 included.

1c. Integers
To represent loss or debt, as opposed to a win or gain, negative numbers are used.

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 Think about a checking account. If the balance in your account is $300, this is a positive since this money is
yours. If the balance is -$20, this means that you owe the bank $20.

In addition, notice that the $20 you owe to the bank is a credit to them, which means that -20 and 20 are
opposites. The following number line helps to illustrate this.

 BIG IDEA

The set of numbers {..., -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, ...} is called the integers. This set of numbers contains all natural
numbers, their opposites, and zero.

 WATCH

Here is a video to help summarize what we’ve covered so far, and how the natural numbers, the whole
numbers, and the integers are related.
Let’s get some practice distinguishing numbers according to the types we’ve learned so far.

EXAMPLE The number “3” is classified as a natural number, a whole number, and an integer since it
meets the criteria to be in all three sets of numbers.

EXAMPLE The number “-2” is classified as an integer only (so far). Since it is negative, it cannot be
either a natural number or a whole number.
As we know, numbers can have fractional parts. How are they classified?

 TERM TO KNOW

Integers
The natural numbers and their opposites, with zero included.

1d. Rational Numbers

Notice that the word rational contains the word “ratio,” which is a division of two numbers. The rational numbers
are numbers that can be expressed as a ratio of two integers.

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 EXAMPLE The following numbers are rational, even though they do not look like fractions right away.

Number Rationale

-3 -3 can be written as , which is a ratio of two integers.

0.6 0.6 is equal to (or in lowest terms, ), which is the ratio of two integers.

 HINT

Every integer is also a rational number.

Let’s look at some rational numbers and their decimal equivalents.

Notice that the decimal representation of these rational numbers either terminates (such as 0.75 and 0.128) or
repeats. This is characteristic of all rational numbers.

 BIG IDEA

When expressing any rational number in decimal form, the decimal either terminates after a finite number of
decimal places or repeats the same digits indefinitely. A bar above the decimal indicates the repeating
digits.

 TERM TO KNOW

Rational Number

A rational number is any number that can be expressed as a fraction , where and b are integers

and , since division by 0 is undefined.

1e. Irrational Numbers

There is one type of number that we have not classified yet—when a number has a decimal representation that
neither ends nor repeats. Such a number is called an irrational number.

Irrational numbers are fascinating mathematical entities that appear both in nature and practical applications.
They weave through the fabric of our universe, connecting mathematics, nature, and practical applications. For
instance:

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 In circle geometry, the famous irrational number π (pi) represents the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its
diameter. The Fibonacci sequence, found in sunflower seed spirals and pinecones, involves the golden ratio,
another irrational value. In quantum mechanics, Planck’s constant plays a crucial role, and its value is an
irrational number. Fractals and chaos theory also rely on irrational computations. These numbers, far from
abstract, shape our understanding of the natural world.

Irrational numbers present themselves in a variety of ways, many of which will be covered throughout this
course. One particular type of irrational number we can talk about at this point is the square root of a number.

The square root of x is represented using the symbol . Many square roots are also irrational, such as the
square root of 3, which equals approximately 1.7320508. Notice that its decimal representation neither
terminates nor repeats.

However, not all square roots are irrational, such as , which is 4. We call the number 16 a perfect square
because it is obtained by multiplying an integer by itself.

 BIG IDEA

Square roots of perfect squares are not irrational, which means they are rational.

Square roots of numbers that are not perfect squares are irrational.

 WATCH

Check out this video where we summarize all the number types and how they relate to each other.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Irrational Number
A number that cannot be expressed as the ratio of two integers. When represented as a decimal, these
numbers do not repeat or end.

Square Root of x
A number, when multiplied by itself, is x.

2. Distinguishing Between Rational and Irrational

Numbers
Since all natural numbers, whole numbers, and integers are contained within the rational numbers, the real
numbers are essentially broken into two groups: rational numbers and irrational numbers. Going forward, this
distinction is important when choosing how to express solutions to problems.

EXAMPLE Which of the following numbers are irrational?

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 Let's look at each number individually:

which is rational and an example of a perfect square.

-2.73 is a terminating decimal, which is rational.
is a repeating decimal, which is rational.

is a fraction of two integers, which is rational.

is irrational since 21 is not a perfect square.

is irrational.

is a fraction of two integers, which is rational.

Thus, and are the only irrational numbers in the set. The rest are rational.

 HINT

If you use a calculator to approximate and notice that their decimal patterns are
nonterminating and non-repeating.

The square roots and evaluate to whole numbers (4 and 3, respectively), which are rational
numbers.

 SUMMARY

The five categories of real numbers are natural, whole, integers, rational, and irrational. We also
discussed distinguishing characteristics of rational and irrational numbers. Rational numbers can be
written as a ratio of two integers, and their decimal form has a terminating or repeating decimal pattern.
Irrational numbers cannot be written as a ratio of two integers, and their decimal form has a
nonterminating and non-repeating decimal pattern.

Source: ADAPTED FROM "BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA" BY TYLER WALLACE, AN OPEN
SOURCE TEXTBOOK AVAILABLE AT www.wallace.ccfaculty.org/book/book.html. License: Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License

 ATTRIBUTIONS

Unfolding Circle Demonstration of Pi | Author: Jack Crawford | License: Public Domain

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 Sumerian Cuneiform Tablet (3100-2900 BCE) | License: Public Domain
Egyptian Wooden Model of Farm Workers | Author: Gary Todd | License: Public Domain

Mayan Zero | Author: Alvaro_qc | License: Public Domain

 TERMS TO KNOW

Integers
Natural numbers and their opposites, including zero.

Irrational Numbers
Numbers which cannot be represented as a ratio of integers.

Rational Numbers
Numbers which can be represented as a ratio of integers, a/b.

Real Numbers
Numbers that can be expressed as a decimal and placed on the number line.

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 Adding and Subtracting Positive and Negative
Numbers
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn how to evaluate a sum or difference with positive and negative numbers.
Specifically, this lesson will cover:
1. Adding Positive and Negative Numbers
2. Subtracting Positive and Negative Numbers

1. Adding Positive and Negative Numbers

The ability to work comfortably with negative numbers is essential for success in algebra. For this reason, we
will do a quick review of adding and subtracting positive and negative integers. Integers are all the positive
whole numbers, zero, and their opposites (negative numbers).

Before we go directly into the rules for adding integers, consider this situation:

A friend gives you 8 chocolate bars, then gives you 4 more. This means your friend gave you 12 chocolate bars

Another way to look at this situation is from your friend's perspective, meaning they lost 8 chocolate bars, then
they lost 4 more. Using negative numbers to represent the losses, “-8” can be used to represent the first loss,
“-4” can be used to represent the second loss, and “-12” can be used to represent the total loss.

This means we can also write

 BIG IDEA

When adding integers that have the same sign, add the unsigned numbers first, then keep the sign of the
numbers for the final answer.
This is illustrated in the following examples:

Same sign; just add.

Our solution

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 Same sign; add 5 + 3 and keep the negative.

Our solution

Same sign; add 7 + 5 and keep the negative.

Our solution
Now let’s imagine a scenario where you spent $10 on lottery tickets, but you won $3 back.

You lost $10 and got $3 back, which means overall, you lost $7. This is written

The store gained $10 but then lost $3, which means overall, they gained $7. This is written

 BIG IDEA

When one integer is positive and one integer is negative, subtract the numbers (as if they were all positive)
and then use the sign from the larger number. This means if the larger number is positive, the answer is
positive; if the larger number is negative, the answer is negative.
This is shown in the following examples:

Different signs; subtract and use sign from bigger number (negative).

Our solution

Different signs; subtract and use sign from bigger number (positive).

Our solution

Different signs; subtract and use sign from bigger number (positive).

Our solution

Different signs; subtract and use sign from bigger number (negative).

Our solution

 BIG IDEA

When adding two numbers with matching signs, add the two numbers (as if they are positive) and keep the
sign. When adding two numbers with opposite signs, subtract the smaller number from the larger number
(as if they are positive), and keep the sign of the larger number.

2. Subtracting Positive and Negative Numbers

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 Consider a situation where you have $12 in your pocket but had to spend $8 for lunch. How much is left? We
can look at this problem using two representations.

Mathematical Representation Explanation

You started with $12, then spent $8, leaving you with $4.

You started with $12, then added a loss of $8, leaving you with $4.

 BIG IDEA

To subtract two numbers, we change the problem to an addition problem, which can then be solved using
the addition methods from earlier. The way we change subtraction to addition is to add the opposite of the
number after the subtraction sign. Often this method is referred to as “adding the opposite.”
This is illustrated in the following examples:

Add the opposite of 3.

Different signs; subtract and use sign from bigger number (negative).

Our solution

Add the opposite of 6.

Same sign; add and keep the negative.

Our solution

Add the opposite of -4.

Same sign; add and keep the positive.

Our solution

Add the opposite of -2.

Different signs; subtract and use sign from bigger number (negative).

Our solution

 SUMMARY

When adding and subtracting positive and negative numbers, it is important to pay attention to the
sign of the numbers. When subtracting integers, it is often helpful to rewrite the subtraction problem as
an addition problem. To rewrite a subtraction problem as an addition problem, change the sign of the
number after the subtraction sign, and change the operation from subtraction to addition. Then, we can
follow strategies for adding positive and negative numbers.

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 Source: ADAPTED FROM "BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA" BY TYLER WALLACE, AN OPEN
SOURCE TEXTBOOK AVAILABLE AT www.wallace.ccfaculty.org/book/book.html. License: Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License

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 Multiplying and Dividing Positive and Negative
Numbers
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn how to determine a product or quotient with positive and negative
numbers. Specifically, this lesson will cover:
1. Multiplying and Dividing Positive and Negative Numbers
2. Division With Positive and Negative Integers
3. Considerations
4. Introduction to Exponents
4a. Exponents of 2 and 3
4b. Exponents of 1 and 0

1. Multiplying and Dividing Positive and Negative

Numbers
As you work through multiplication problems in this course, you will see many different ways to express
multiplication. Some problems may use the times sign ( ), a dot ( ), or sometimes even parentheses ( ).
They all mean the same thing—that you will multiply the values together. Here are a few more instances:

Times Dot Parentheses

Recall that finding the product of 3 x 8 could mean one of two things:

The result when adding three 8’s. (8+8+8)

The result when adding eight 3’s. (3+3+3+3+3+3+3+3)

Either way, the result is 24.

Let’s now talk about multiplying two numbers that have different signs, for example, 3(-8).

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 We know that this means to add three -8's. This is (-8) + (-8) + (-8), which is -24.

Do you notice something? From earlier, we saw that When one number changes to a negative, the
result also becomes negative. This means that the product of two numbers with unlike signs is negative.

 BIG IDEA

When multiplying two numbers with unlike signs, the product is negative.
Now, what happens when we multiply two negative numbers together?

Let’s look at what we have done so far:

We know that
After making one of the numbers negative, we get the opposite result:
If we make the other number negative, the result changes sign again:

 BIG IDEA

Multiplication and division of integers both work in a very similar pattern to adding and subtracting. The
short description of the process is that we multiply or divide like normal, and if the signs match (both
positive or both negative), the answer is positive. If the signs don't match (one positive and one negative),
the answer is negative.

2. Division With Positive and Negative Integers

Since division is just multiplication in reverse, we can form the rules for division as organized in the following
table. Note that (+) denotes a positive number, and (-) denotes a negative number.

Multiplication Division

or

 BIG IDEA

Dividing two numbers with like signs results in a positive number, and dividing two numbers with unlike
signs results in a negative number.
Here are examples of multiplication and division of integers with matching signs:

Signs match; answer is positive.

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 Our solution

Signs match; answer is positive.

Our solution
In each example, since the two integers have matching signs, we multiply or divide the two numbers and write
the product or quotient as a positive number.

 BIG IDEA

The product or quotient of two positive numbers is positive. The product or quotient of two negative
numbers is also positive.
Here are some examples of multiplication and division of integers with opposite signs:

Signs do not match; answer is negative.

Our solution

Signs do not match; answer is negative.

Our solution
In these examples, the two integers have opposite signs: One is positive, and the other is negative. We multiply
or divide the two numbers and write the product or quotient as a negative number.

 BIG IDEA

The product or quotient of a positive and negative number is negative.

3. Considerations
There are a few things to be careful of when working with integers. First, be sure not to confuse a problem like
with

The first problem, is subtraction, because subtraction separates -3 from what comes after it.
The second problem, is a multiplication problem, because there is nothing between the 3 and the
parenthesis. If there is no operation written in between the parts, then we assume that means we are
multiplying.

Another item to watch out for is to be careful not to mix up the pattern for adding and subtracting integers with
the pattern for multiplying and dividing integers. They can look very similar; for example, if the signs match on
addition, we keep the sign, even if it is negative: However, if the signs match in multiplication,
the answer is always positive:

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 4. Introduction to Exponents
An exponent is used to represent repeated multiplication. This means that if we have the same number used in
multiplication several times, we can express this using an exponent. Look at the following example:

We see the number 4 three times.

Now, here it is expressed using an exponent.

Let's examine the relationship between the 4 and the 3. We refer to 4 as the base of the expression. This is the
number that is being multiplied. The number 3 is called the exponent, and it tells us how many times to use the
base in a chain of multiplication. So, we interpret 4 cubed as repeated multiplication, using 4 as the base in a
chain of multiplication 3 times.

How do we read expressions with exponents? The number 4 cubed is read as “4 to the 3rd power.” Here are
some other ways to say the same thing:

4 to the power of 3
4 raised to the 3rd
4 raised to the 3rd power
4 raised to the power of 3

Common language includes words such as “power” and “raised,” and we read the base number as a normal
standard number, but the exponent could be read as an ordinal number (first, second, third, etc.)
Next, we are going to talk about some common exponents: 2 and 3.

4a. Exponents of 2 and 3

When a base is raised to the power of 2, a common way of talking about something to the power of two is using
the term “squared.” Think about the area of a square. A square has side lengths that are equal to each other,
and we multiply them together to find the area. So, the side length squared gives us the area of the square.

When a base is raised to the power of 3, we commonly say that the base is “cubed.” Like squaring and area, we
can think about the volume of a cube. A cube has side lengths that are equal in measure, and we multiply the
dimensions to find the volume. So, the side length cubed gives us the volume of a cube.

EXAMPLE Evaluate

EXAMPLE Evaluate

Rewrite.

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 Multiply the first two numbers.

Perform the multiplication.

 BIG IDEA

Any base raised to exponent 2 is called squaring the base. Any base raised to exponent 3 is called cubing
the base.

4b. Exponents of 1 and 0

Now let's talk about two other special exponents: one and zero. Recall that the exponent tells us how many
times to use the base in a chain of multiplication. So, if the exponent is 1, the expression simply equals the base,
no matter what the base is.

What if the exponent is zero? A common mistake is to think that anything raised to the power of zero is zero, but
this is not correct. Let's approach a zero exponent by writing another expression with an exponent and working
our way down to an exponent of zero.

EXAMPLE

You can see as the exponent goes down by one, you are dividing the value by the base. So, when you
reach to find divide 4 by 4, which is equal to 1.

 BIG IDEA

Any number, variable, or expression raised to the power of 1 remains the same.

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  BIG IDEA

Any number, variable, or expression raised to the power of zero equals 1.

 HINT

It is possible to discuss exponents larger than 3, but for now, all the work we do will focus on evaluating
expressions whose exponents are 0, 1, 2, or 3.

 SUMMARY

The big idea is that multiplying or dividing by a negative number changes the sign of the product or
quotient. When the signs match—for instance, when we multiply or divide two positive numbers—the
answer is positive. When we multiply or divide by two negative numbers, the answer is also positive.
However, when the signs are opposite, such as when we multiply or divide a positive number and a
negative number, the answer is negative. Some considerations when adding, subtracting, multiplying,
or dividing numbers include making sure you don't confuse an addition problem with a multiplication
problem, and that you don't mix up the patterns for adding and subtracting with the patterns for
multiplying and dividing.

Exponents are used to denote how many times a number is being present in a chain of multiplications.
In the form the number b is the base (number that is being multiplied), and the number x is the
exponent, which tells us how many times the base is a factor in the multiplication chain.

Common cases are exponents of 2 and 3. Any base raised to exponent 2 is called squaring the base.
Any base raised to exponent 3 is called cubing the base. There are also special cases involving
exponents: exponents of 1 and 0. Any number, variable, or expression raised to the power of 1 remains
the same. Any nonzero number, variable, or expression raised to the power of zero equals 1.

Source: ADAPTED FROM "BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA" BY TYLER WALLACE, AN OPEN
SOURCE TEXTBOOK AVAILABLE AT www.wallace.ccfaculty.org/book/book.html. License: Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License

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 Introduction to Order of Operations
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn how to evaluate an expression using the order of operations. Specifically,
this lesson will cover:
1. Introduction to the Order of Operations

1. Introduction to the Order of Operations

Consider a scenario in which you rolled 5 dice, with the following outcome.

If your score is the total of the dice, then your score is or 23. No matter what order you add the
numbers in, the total still comes out to 23.

One way you might find the total is to count the 5’s, then add 3 to the total.

Notice that is the same as 4(5), which means that the expression can be written as

To get the correct value, 4 and 5 must be multiplied together before adding 3.

Here is how this would work out:

Perform multiplication first.

Add.

Our solution

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 Thus, when we encounter an expression with several operations in it, there is a specific order in which to
perform those operations. Before getting into the official rules, here are a few other things to keep in mind:

Remember that subtraction is simply an addition of a negative number. This means that addition and
subtraction are treated the same way.

Division is simply multiplication by a reciprocal. For example, Therefore, multiplication and

division are regarded in the same way.

Exponents represent repeated multiplication. This means that exponents should be handled before
multiplications in a similar way to multiplication being handled before additions.

However, there is one situation that we haven’t discussed yet: grouping symbols.

EXAMPLE Simplify

Recall that when squaring a quantity, we multiply the base by itself. However, this base is more complicated,
so it will be easier if we simplify it first. The parentheses around the tells us that this is treated as one
quantity.

We simplify as follows:

Here is our original problem.

Simplify 9 – 4.

There is no need for parentheses since this is a single number.

Evaluate. This is our solution.

 BIG IDEA

If there is an expression within parentheses, this needs to be simplified first.

This leads to the order of operations, which is a sequence of rules to follow when simplifying an expression that
contains several operations.

 BIG IDEA

The order of operations follows this pattern:

Parentheses (grouping): Perform all operations within parenthesis (or other grouping symbols) first.
Exponents (radicals): Evaluate terms that contain exponents or radicals.
Multiply and Divide (left to right).
Add and Subtract (left to right).

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 The operations of multiplication and division are on the same level because they are the same operation
(division is just multiplying by the reciprocal). This means they must be done left to right, so for some
problems, we will divide first, and for others, we will multiply first. The same is true for adding and
subtracting (subtracting is just adding the opposite).
Often students use the word PEMDAS to remember the order of operations, as the first letter of each operation
creates the word PEMDAS. However, it is useful to think about PEMDAS as a vertical word written as:

P
E
MD
AS

This format helps us remember that multiplication and division are done left to right (same with addition and
subtraction).

 HINT

Another way students remember the order of operations is to think of a phrase such as “Please Excuse My
Dear Aunt Sally,” where each word starts with the same letters as the order of operations.
Now let’s work through some examples that require us to use the order of operations.

EXAMPLE Evaluate the expression:

Parenthesis first.

Next, exponents.

Multiply.

Add.

Our solution

EXAMPLE Evaluate the expression:

Divide first (left to right!).

Multiply.

Our solution
In the previous example, if we had multiplied first, 5 would have been the answer, which is incorrect. If there are
several parentheses in a problem, we will start with the innermost parenthesis and work our way out. Inside
each parenthesis, we simplify using the order of operations as well. To make it easier to know which
parenthesis goes with which parenthesis, different types of parentheses will be used, such as { } and [] and ( ).
These parentheses all mean the same thing; they are parentheses and must be evaluated first.

 WATCH

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 24
 In this video, we’ll evaluate another expression using the order of operations.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Evaluate
To find the final value of some expression.

PEMDAS
An acronym to remember the order of operations: parentheses, exponents, multiplication and division,
addition and subtraction.

 SUMMARY

As the above example illustrates, it can take several steps to complete a problem. With the order of
operations, we can use the acronym PEMDAS, which stands for parentheses (grouping), exponents
(radicals), multiply and divide (left to right), add and subtract (left to right). Remember, multiplication and
division are done together, moving from left to right. Addition and subtraction are also done together,
just moving from left to right.

The key to successfully solving order of operations problems is to take the time to show your work and
do one step at a time. This will reduce the chance of making a mistake along the way.

Source: ADAPTED FROM "BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA" BY TYLER WALLACE, AN OPEN
SOURCE TEXTBOOK AVAILABLE AT www.wallace.ccfaculty.org/book/book.html. License: Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License

 TERMS TO KNOW

PEMDAS
An acronym to remember the order of operations: parentheses, exponents, multiplication and division,
addition and subtraction.

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 25
 Introduction to Absolute Value
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn how to determine the result of an expression with absolute value.
Specifically, this lesson will cover:
1. Introduction to Absolute Value
2. Adding and Subtracting With Absolute Value
3. Multiplying and Dividing With Absolute Value

1. Introduction to Absolute Value

The absolute value of a number is its distance from zero on the number line. The absolute value of a number x
is denoted

To help illustrate this, consider the number line below.

Let’s look at the positive numbers first.

The number 3.5 is 3.5 units away from 0 on the number line. Using absolute value notation, we write

The number 7 is 7 units to the right of 0 on the number line. Using absolute value notation, we write

Now let’s look at the negative numbers.

The number -2.6 is 2.6 units away from 0 on the number line. Using absolute value notation, we write

The number -7 is 7 units away from 0 on the number line. Using absolute value notation, we write

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 26
  BIG IDEA

When taking the absolute value of a number, the result is always non-negative. A simple way to think about
evaluating the absolute value of a number is to rewrite the number without regard to its sign (i.e., do not
write positive or negative; simply write the number).

 TERM TO KNOW

Absolute Value
The distance between a number and zero on the number line; it is always non-negative. If x is a number,
then the absolute value of x is written

2. Adding and Subtracting With Absolute Value

Now that we understand the absolute value of a number, let's use absolute value in addition and subtraction
problems. The important thing here is to evaluate the absolute value first and then perform the addition or
subtraction.

EXAMPLE
Evaluate as 3.

Evaluate as 7.

Add 3 and 7.

Our solution

EXAMPLE
Evaluate as 4.

Evaluate as 8.

Subtract 8 from 4.

Our solution
If there are multiple numbers and operations within absolute value bars, we must evaluate the expression inside
before taking any absolute value. This is because absolute value bars also act as grouping symbols and must
be evaluated first according to the order of operations.

EXAMPLE
Add -3 to 4.

Subtract 2 from 1.

Evaluate as 1.

Our solution

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 27
 3. Multiplying and Dividing With Absolute Value
There are a couple of special properties with absolute value when multiplying and dividing two numbers. Let's
take a look at multiplication first:

EXAMPLE
Multiply 7 by -3.

Evaluate as 21.

Our solution

Now let's take a look at another way to approach the same problem:

Write as two absolute values.

Evaluate as 7.

Evaluate as 3.

Multiply 7 by 3.

Our solution

 BIG IDEA

With products, we can say that .

Next, let's see if the same property holds true with division:

EXAMPLE
Divide -18 by 2.

Evaluate as 9.

Our solution

Do you think we will arrive at the same solution if we first rewrite the expression using two sets of absolute
value bars?

Write as two absolute values.

Evaluate as 18.

Evaluate as 2.

Divide 18 by 2.

Our solution

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 28
  BIG IDEA

With quotients, we can say that .

Let’s see if these properties further apply to addition and subtraction. Below are several examples for you to try
on your own.

 TRY IT

Evaluate each expression below.

|-3| – |-5| +

The absolute value of -3 is just 3, and the absolute value of -5 is just 5. The expression can be rewritten
as:

|-3 – (-5)| +

Combine the terms inside the absolute value, then simplify. The expression can be rewritten as:

|-10| + |6| +

The absolute value of -10 is just 10, and the absolute value of 6 is just 6. The expression can be
rewritten as:

|-10 + 6| +

Combine the terms inside the absolute value, then simplify. The expression can be rewritten as:

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 29
  HINT

Notice the following from previous examples:

and

and

In general, this means and There may be situations when they are
equal, but we cannot always expect them to be equal.

 HINT

If you have a negative sign on the OUTSIDE of the absolute value, you will actually end up with a negative
value. For instance:

 TRY IT

Evaluate the expression.

-|-7| + |4| +

The absolute value of -7 is just 7, and the absolute value of 4 is just 4. Make sure you add back in the
negative sign that is in front of the absolute value of -7. The expression can be rewritten as:

 SUMMARY

Absolute value is defined as the distance a number is away from 0 (zero) on a number line. Because it
is a distance, the result will always be a non-negative number. In other words, it will either be zero or a
positive number. When adding and subtracting with absolute value, remember to evaluate the

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 30
 absolute value first and then perform the addition or subtraction. It's also important to keep in mind that
the absolute value sign acts as a grouping symbol. This means that when an expression is inside the
absolute value bars, it gets simplified first before applying the absolute value. Finally, when multiplying
and dividing absolute values, the product quotient properties of absolute value will allow us to simplify
absolute value expressions.

Source: ADAPTED FROM "BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA" BY TYLER WALLACE, AN OPEN
SOURCE TEXTBOOK AVAILABLE AT www.wallace.ccfaculty.org/book/book.html. License: Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License

 TERMS TO KNOW

Absolute Value
The distance between a number and zero on the number line; it is always non-negative.

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 31
 Operations as Grouping Symbols
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn how to evaluate an expression with absolute value using order of
operations. Specifically, this lesson will cover:
1. Operations as Grouping Symbols
1a. Fraction Bars
1b. Absolute Value Bars
1c. Radical Symbols
2. Evaluating Expressions With Variables

1. Operations as Grouping Symbols

The order of operations outlines an order we should follow to evaluate expressions with multiple operations.
We often use the acronym PEMDAS to remember the order of operations:

It is important to remember that the “parentheses” part of the order of operations includes grouping symbols,
such as braces or brackets. There are several types of operations that act as grouping symbols. This means that
they are operations but need to be considered first in the order of operations because they also enclose other
expressions in parentheses, even though they might not be visible.

In this lesson, we will see three operations that act as grouping symbols: fraction bars, absolute value bars, and
the radical symbol.

1a. Fraction Bars

If we have a fraction, the entire numerator and the entire denominator must be evaluated before we reduce the
fraction. In these cases, we can simplify both the numerator and denominator at the same time.

EXAMPLE

Exponent in the numerator; divide in the denominator.

Multiply in the numerator and subtract in the denominator.

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 32
 Add the opposite to simplify numerator; denominator is done.

Reduce and divide.

Our solution

 BIG IDEA

A fraction bar groups numbers and operations in a numerator and denominator. Although a fraction bar
represents division, it creates implied parentheses around everything on the top and on the bottom. We
must fully evaluate both the numerator and denominator of a fraction and divide at the very end.

1b. Absolute Value Bars

Another type of grouping symbol that also has an operation with it is absolute value. When we have an absolute
value, we will evaluate everything inside the absolute value bars, just as if it were normal parentheses. Then,
once the inside is completed, we will take the absolute value, or distance from zero, to make sure the number is
non-negative.

EXAMPLE
Evaluate what is inside the absolute value bars first, starting with the exponents.

Add what is inside the absolute value bars.

Evaluate absolute values.

Multiply left to right.

Finish multiplying.

Add left to right.

Add.

Our solution

 BIG IDEA

Absolute value bars also act as a grouping symbol and come first in the order of operations. If we see an
expression inside absolute value bars, we must completely evaluate that expression, then take its absolute
value, before moving on to the other operations according to the order of operations.

 HINT

The above example also illustrates an important point about exponents. Exponents are considered to be

only on the number they are attached to. This means when we see only the 4 is squared, giving us

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 33
 , or -16. But when the negative is in parentheses, such as the negative is part of the number and
is also squared, giving us a positive solution, 25.

1c. Radical Symbols

Expressions can be underneath radical symbols, just like they can be in numerators, denominators, or within
absolute value bars. When an expression is underneath a radical, this groups the expression together and acts
as a grouping symbol. This means we must fully evaluate the expression underneath the radical sign, before
moving on to other operations in the order of operations.

EXAMPLE
The radical sign groups the expression .

Multiply 4 by 5.

Add 5.

Evaluate the square root.

Our solution

2. Evaluating Expressions With Variables

There are many expressions that dictate how our world works.

The expression 1.8C + 32 gives the Fahrenheit temperature that corresponds to a Celsius temperature.

The expression gives the height (in feet) of an object t seconds after being dropped from
a 300-feet-tall structure.

Suppose we wish to find the Fahrenheit temperature that corresponds to a temperature of 30°C. To do so, we
would need to substitute 30 for C, then simplify. This process is called evaluating an expression.
Evaluating expressions requires using the order of operations.

 WATCH

In this video, we’ll evaluate an expression with one variable term.

 WATCH

In this video, we’ll evaluate an expression that contains more than one variable term.
Now, let’s evaluate an expression that contains another grouping symbol, absolute value.

EXAMPLE Evaluate the expression when

Replace all with ( ).

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 34
 Replace all ( ) with -5.

Combine under the absolute value.

Evaluate the absolute value.

Perform the multiplication.

Perform the subtraction to arrive at our solution.

 TRY IT

Consider the expression:

Evaluate the expression when x = -4. +

 SUMMARY

Operations that act as grouping symbols fall under parentheses in PEMDAS, which means that when
you're evaluating with the order of operations, you're going to start with grouping symbols first.
Grouping symbols include fraction bars, absolute value bars, and radical symbols. For nested grouping
symbols, where you have more than one grouping symbol inside of another one, you need to start by
evaluating them from the inside out. Whatever your innermost grouping symbol is, start with that and
then work your way out. Order of operations is needed to evaluate expressions with variables, which is
replacing a variable with a number, then simplifying.

Source: ADAPTED FROM "BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA" BY TYLER WALLACE, AN OPEN
SOURCE TEXTBOOK AVAILABLE AT www.wallace.ccfaculty.org/book/book.html. License: Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License

 TERMS TO KNOW

PEMDAS
An acronym to remember the order of operations: parentheses, exponents, multiplication and division,
addition and subtraction.

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 35
 Properties of Exponents
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn how to simplify an expression using the properties of exponents.
Specifically, this lesson will cover:
1. Properties of Exponents
1a. Product Property of Exponents
1b. Quotient Property of Exponents
1c. Power of a Power Property of Exponents
1d. Power of a Product Rule
1e. Power of a Quotient Property of Exponents
2. Putting It All Together

 BEFORE YOU START

In this legend, a sage challenges a king to a game of chess. The sage wins, and as a reward, the sage asks
for rice to be measured out on the chessboard as follows: one grain on the first square, two on the second,
four on the third, and so on, doubling with each square. The king agrees, thinking it’s a small request.
However, by the end of the second row, he needs over 32,000 grains for one square. The sage reveals
himself as the deity Krishna, and the king vows to pay the debt by feeding poor travelers. This debt would
take thousands of years to fulfill, even with India’s high rice production.

This story shows why exponents are useful. Simply put, the number of grains of rice needed to complete
this challenge is 2⁶⁴ minus 1—much easier than writing out 1+2+4+8... all the way to the final number, which
would be over 9 quintillion (that is, a 9 followed by 18 zeros). Scientists use exponents to express very small
and very large numbers. The story also shows that exponents are powerful when applied to growth or
reduction, as people calculating odds or financial interest know. These features both make exponents
useful in algebra, but first, we will review some of the important properties related to exponents.

1. Properties of Exponents
Problems with exponents can often be simplified using a few basic exponent properties. Exponents represent
repeated multiplication. We will use this fact to discover important properties.

 DID YOU KNOW

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 36
 The word exponent comes from the Latin expo, meaning “out of,” and ponere, meaning “place.” While there
is some debate, it seems that the Babylonians living in present-day Iraq were the first to do work with
exponents (dating back to the 23rd century BC or earlier!)

1a. Product Property of Exponents

Let's look at the following example and how we can rewrite the exponents as a multiplication problem.

EXAMPLE
Expand exponents to write out a multiplication problem.

Now we have being multiplied together.

Our solution

A quicker method to arrive at our answer would have been to just add the exponents. This is known as the
product property of exponents.

 FORMULA TO KNOW

Product Property of Exponents

The important thing here is that the expressions must have the same base. If exponential expressions with the
same base are multiplied together, we can simply add the exponents.

EXAMPLE
Same base; add the exponents .

Our solution

1b. Quotient Property of Exponents

In addition to multiplying, we will now divide with exponents.

EXAMPLE

Expand the exponents.

Divide out two of the .

Convert to exponents.

Our solution

A quicker method to arrive at the solution would have been to just subtract the exponents. This is known as the
quotient property of exponents:

 FORMULA TO KNOW

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 37
 Quotient Property of Exponents

Just like with the product property, it is important to note that it only holds true when the bases are the same.

EXAMPLE

Same base; subtract the exponents .

Our solution

1c. Power of a Power Property of Exponents

A third property we will look at involves an exponent raised to another exponent. This is investigated in the
following example:

EXAMPLE

This means we have three times.

Add the exponents.

Our solution

A quicker method to arrive at the solution would have been to just multiply the exponents. This is known as the
power of a power property of exponents.

 FORMULA TO KNOW

Power of a Power Property of Exponents

This property is often combined with two other properties: power of a product, and power of a quotient. We will
look at these properties next.

1d. Power of a Product Rule

What happens when you have more than one factor being multiplied together and raised to a power?

EXAMPLE

This means we have three times.

Three and three can be written with exponents.

Our solution

A quicker method to arrive at the solution would have been to take the exponent of 3 and put it on each factor
in parentheses. This is known as the power of a product property of exponents.

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 38
  FORMULA TO KNOW

Power of a Product Property of Exponents

 HINT

Naturally, this property can be extended if the quantity inside the parentheses contains three or more
factors. For example, , and so on.

 HINT

It is important to be careful to only use the power of a product property with multiplication inside
parentheses. This property does NOT work if there is addition or subtraction.

These are NOT equal. Beware of this error!

To help visualize this, here is an example using specific numbers.

EXAMPLE Consider the expressions and

First, simplify

Simplify inside ( ) first.

Simplify. This is the simplest form of the expression.

Now, simplify

Since there are no grouping symbols present, evaluate the terms with
exponents.

Simplify. This is the simplest form of the expression.

Clearly, these results are not the same, which means

1e. Power of a Quotient Property of Exponents

Now, what about when you are dividing terms and that whole set is raised to a power?

EXAMPLE

This means we have the fraction three times.

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 39
 Multiply fractions across the top and bottom, using exponents.

Our solution

A quicker method to arrive at the solution would have been to put the exponent on every factor in both the
numerator and denominator. This is known as the power of a quotient property of exponents.

 FORMULA TO KNOW

Power of a Quotient Property of Exponents

2. Putting It All Together

The power of a power, product, and quotient properties of exponents are often used together to simplify
expressions.

EXAMPLE

Use the power of a power property to multiply 5 and 3.

Evaluate the multiplication in the exponent.

Use the product property to add the exponents 15 and 2.

Evaluate the addition in the exponent.

Our solution

EXAMPLE

Use the power of a power property to multiply 7 and 2.

Evaluate the multiplication in the exponent.

Use the quotient property to subtract the exponents 14 and 6.

Evaluate the subtraction in the exponent.

Our solution

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 40
 EXAMPLE Simplify the expression

Here is the original problem.

Apply the power of a product rule of exponents.

Apply the power of a power rule of exponents.

Thus,

 TRY IT

Consider the expression:

Simplify the expression. +

 BIG IDEA

Rules of Exponents Formula

Product Rule of Exponents

Quotient Rule of Exponents

Power of a Power Rule of Exponents

Power of a Product Rule of Exponents

Power of a Quotient Rule of Exponents

 SUMMARY

Problems with exponents can often be simplified using a few basic properties of exponents: the
product property of exponents, the quotient property of exponents, the power of a power property of
exponents, the power of a product rule, and the power of a quotient property of exponents. When

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 41
 putting it all together, these five properties of exponents are often mixed up in the same problem.
Often there is a bit of flexibility as to which property is used first. However, the order of operations still
applies to a problem. For this reason, we suggest simplifying inside any parentheses first, then
simplifying any exponents (using power properties). Finally, simplify any multiplication or division (using
product and quotient properties).

Source: ADAPTED FROM "BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA" BY TYLER WALLACE, AN OPEN
SOURCE TEXTBOOK AVAILABLE AT www.wallace.ccfaculty.org/book/book.html. License: Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License

 FORMULAS TO KNOW

Power of a Power Property of Exponents

Power of a Product Property of Exponents

Power of a Quotient Property of Exponents

Product Property of Exponents

Quotient Property of Exponents

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 42
 Negative Exponents
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn how to simplify an expression with negative exponents. Specifically, this
lesson will cover:
1. Zero Exponents
2. Negative Exponents
2a. Rule #1
2b. Rule #2
2c. Rule #3
3. Simplifying With Negative Exponents

1. Zero Exponents
Previously, we discussed that any number raised to a 0 exponent is equal to 1. Now that we have established
some properties of exponents, we can see why.

To show this, let’s start with the expression . Naturally, we need to assume that so that the denominator

is not 0. Use the quotient property to simplify the expression.

Use the quotient rule to subtract the exponents.

Our solution

Now, consider the same problem in a second way. We know that any quantity, divided by itself, is 1.

Therefore,

When we combine these two results, we get , as long as This result is an important property that
we’ll call the zero property of exponents:

 FORMULA TO KNOW

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 43
 Zero Property of Exponents

Any number or expression raised to a zero power will always be 1.

EXAMPLE

Apply the zero power rule.

Our solution

2. Negative Exponents
2a. Rule #1
Another property we will consider here deals with negative exponents. Again, we will solve the following
example in two ways.

EXAMPLE Use the quotient property and solve.

Using the quotient rule, subtract the exponents.

Our solution

But now we consider the same problem in a second way:

EXAMPLE Rewrite the exponents as repeated multiplication and solve.

Rewrite the exponents as repeated multiplication.

Reduce three out of the top and bottom.

Simplify to exponents.

Our solution

When we combine these two results, we get . This example illustrates an important property of

exponents. Negative exponents yield the reciprocal of the base. Once we take the reciprocal, the exponent is
now positive. Also, it is important to note a negative exponent does not mean the expression is negative, only
that we need the reciprocal of the base. This gives us Rule #1 of the properties of negative exponents.

 FORMULA TO KNOW

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 44
 Properties of Negative Exponents

Rule #1:

2b. Rule #2
Negative exponents can be combined in several different ways. Generally, if we think of our expression as a
fraction, negative exponents in the numerator must be moved to the denominator; likewise, negative exponents
in the denominator need to be moved to the numerator. When the base with the exponent moves, the exponent
is now positive.

To see this, consider the expression .

Rewrite the denominator using the property of negative exponents.

Rewrite as a division problem.

Rewrite the fraction division as multiplication.

Simplify.

Thus, .

This gives us Rule #2 of the properties of negative exponents.

 FORMULA TO KNOW

Properties of Negative Exponents

Rule #2:

 WATCH

2c. Rule #3
What if you have an expression where a negative exponent is applied to the whole fraction?

Consider the expression .

By using exponent properties learned previously, we can write this as an equivalent expression that contains
only nonnegative exponents.

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 45
 Use the “fraction to a power rule” as presented previously.

Use the “rule #2” property.

This is equivalent to the previous answer.

The result is simply the reciprocal of the fraction, where each term in the numerator and denominator is raised
to a positive power n. This gives us Rule #3 of the properties of negative exponents.

 FORMULA TO KNOW

Properties of Negative Exponents

Rule #3:

 BIG IDEA

Negative exponents yield the reciprocal of the base.

 TERM TO KNOW

Reciprocal (of a number a)

The multiplicative inverse of a. In other words, the number .

3. Simplifying With Negative Exponents

Simplifying with negative exponents is much the same as simplifying with positive exponents. It is advised to
keep the negative exponents until the end of the problem and then move them around to their correct location
(numerator or denominator). As we do this, it is important to be very careful of rules for adding, subtracting, and
multiplying with negatives.

EXAMPLE

Simplify the numerator with the product rule, adding the exponents.

Use the quotient rule to subtract exponents. Be careful with the negatives!

Our solution

EXAMPLE

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 46
 Simplify the numerator with the product rule, adding the exponents.

Apply the quotient rule to subtract the exponents. Be careful with negatives!

The negative exponent needs to move down to the denominator.

Our solution

EXAMPLE
In the numerator, use the power rule with ‐2, multiplying the exponents. In the
denominator, .

In the numerator, use the product rule to add the exponents.

Use the quotient rule to subtract the exponents. Be careful with negatives!

Move 3 and b to the denominator because of negative exponents.

Evaluate .

Our solution

 HINT

In the previous example, it is important to point out that when we simplified , we moved the 3 to the
denominator, and the exponent became positive. We did not make the number negative! Negative
exponents never make the bases negative; they simply mean we must take the reciprocal of the base.

 SUMMARY

Any number or expression raised to a zero exponent will always be 1, known as the zero property of
exponents. You can rewrite any negative exponent as positive using one of these properties. Any base,
b, to a negative exponent, -n, can be written as 1 over the same base, b, to a positive exponent, n (rule
#1). The exponent goes from negative to positive. We now have our base and exponent in the
denominator of the fraction. It's like we have flipped the fraction.

Similarly, if you have a fraction, 1 over base, b, to a negative exponent, -n, we can write it as the same

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 47
 base b to the positive exponent n (rule #2). Again, our exponent goes from negative to positive. Instead
of the base and exponent being in the denominator of the fraction, we have it written by itself.

When you have an expression where a negative exponent is applied to the whole fraction, we can
apply rule #3 of the properties of negative exponents: By using exponent properties learned
previously, we can write it as an equivalent expression that contains only nonnegative exponents.

Lastly, simplifying with negative exponents is much the same as simplifying with positive exponents.
Keep the negative exponents until the end of the problem and then move them around to their correct
location (numerator or denominator), being careful of rules for adding, subtracting, and multiplying with
negatives.

Source: ADAPTED FROM "BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA" BY TYLER WALLACE, AN OPEN
SOURCE TEXTBOOK AVAILABLE AT www.wallace.ccfaculty.org/book/book.html. License: Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License

 FORMULAS TO KNOW

Properties of Negative Exponents

Zero Property of Exponents

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 48
 Fractional Exponents and Radicals
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn how to write fractional exponents as radicals, or vice versa. Specifically, this
lesson will cover:
1. Radicals and Exponents
1a. The Relationship Between Radicals and Exponents
1b. Common Squares
1c. Perfect Cubes and Cube Roots
1d. Higher Roots and Notation
2. Converting Radicals to Exponents
2a. Converting to Fractional Exponents
2b. Converting to Radicals

1. Radicals and Exponents

1a. The Relationship Between Radicals and Exponents

To review, an exponent is repeated multiplication. For example, means that we take the base number, 4, and
use it in a chain of multiplication three times, or Notice that the exponent, 3, tells us how many times to
use the base as a factor in repeated multiplication. Radicals are used to undo this exponent operation.

Let's first look at square roots, since square roots are very common. A square root “unsquares” a number. For
example, because we say the square root of 25 is 5. The square root of 25 is written as . Since
then

 DID YOU KNOW

The radical sign, when first used, was an R with a line through the tail, similar to our prescription symbol
today. The R came from the Latin radix, which can be translated as “source” or “foundation.” It wasn't until
the 1500's that our current symbol was first used in Germany (but even then, it was just a check mark with
no bar over the numbers).
When writing square roots (and as will be discussed later, higher roots), the number placed underneath the
radical sign is called the radicand.

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 49
  TERM TO KNOW

Radicand
The expression underneath a radical sign.

1b. Common Squares

Recognizing perfect squares will be extremely useful in evaluating and simplifying radical expressions,
particularly square roots and cube roots. Perfect squares are integers squared, or raised to the power of 2. Here
are some examples of perfect squares:

Perfect Squares

Taking the square root of a perfect square results in an integer. Here are some examples of square roots and
their corresponding squares.

because 64 is a perfect square ( ).

because 81 is a perfect square ( ).

because 4 is a perfect square ( ).

 HINT

As we saw when we discussed irrational numbers, not all square roots result in an integer. In fact, only the
perfect squares do. For example, is not an integer; it is an irrational number with a never-ending decimal

pattern. We can approximate as 2.236. This means that is close to 5. If we wish to express

the square root of 5 as an exact value, rather than an approximation, we leave the radical as .

1c. Perfect Cubes and Cube Roots

Here are some common perfect cubes.

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 Perfect Cubes

Now, suppose we want to know a number, when cubed, is 343. We know from above that this is 7. How would
we write this using radical notation?

Using radical notation, we write

This is read “the cube root of 343 is 7.”

The tiny “3” at the beginning of the radical symbol is used to tell us that we are taking a cube root of a number
—in this case, 343. Remember that we could also call 343 the radicand in this situation.

Taking the cube root of a perfect cube results in an integer. Here are some examples (refer to the table of
perfect cubes above):

because 64 is a perfect cube ( ).

because 343 is a perfect cube ( ).

because 8 is a perfect cube ( ).

 BIG IDEA

Taking the square root of a number means that we are looking for a number that, when used as a factor
twice in a chain of multiplication, will give us the number underneath the radical.

With the cube root of a quantity, that is a number that is used as a factor three times in a chain of

multiplication to arrive at the value underneath the radical. For example, because So, we

can say that because 2 is used three times in a chain of multiplication to get 8.

1d. Higher Roots and Notation

The general idea of taking roots applies to other types of radicals as well. We can have 4th roots, 5th roots, 6th
roots, and so on. Generally, we say the nth root of a number is used in a chain of multiplication n times to arrive
at the value underneath the radical symbol.

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 51
 For example, let’s say we want to find This is asking, “What number, raised to the 4th power, gives a result
of 16?”

Since we know that

In general, the notation means “the nth root of x”, which means the number, when raised to the nth power,
gives x. The number n is called the “index,” which indicates the root that we are applying to the radicand, x.

EXAMPLE Since we can also write

Since we can also write

We can also expand on our recognition of irrational numbers. For example, consider If you approximate
this using your calculator, you should get 1.81712059283214 (and a never-ending, non-repeating series of
decimal digits). Based on this observation, it stands to reason that nth roots of non-perfect nth powers are all
irrational.

 TRY IT

Consider the following numbers:

169
200
361
24

Which of the above numbers are perfect squares? +

By taking square roots of each number, 169 is a perfect square because , and 361 is a

perfect square since The others are not perfect squares since their square roots have non-
ending, non-repeating decimals.

 TRY IT

Consider the following numbers:

12
64
900
343

Which of the above numbers are perfect cubes? +

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 52
 By taking cube roots of each number, 64 is a perfect cube since , and 343 is a perfect cube

since The others are not perfect cubes since their cube roots have non-ending, non-
repeating decimals.

 TERM TO KNOW

Index
The number contained to the left side of a radical expression that indicates the root being taken.

2. Converting Radicals to Exponents

Another way to represent radicals is by using exponents. This is explored in the following video.

 WATCH

Any radical can be rewritten as an exponent by using rule #1 of the properties of fractional exponents.

 FORMULA TO KNOW

Properties of Fractional Exponents

Rule #1:

Let's look at a few examples:

 HINT

A common radical conversion to exponent is square root. Remember that taking the square root of a term is
the same as raising that term to the 1/2 power.

 WATCH

Can any fraction be an exponent? If so, what does it mean? Here is a video to help pull this all together.

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 53
  FORMULA TO KNOW

Properties of Fractional Exponents

Rule #2:

The denominator of a rational exponent becomes the index on our radical. Likewise, the index on the radical
becomes the denominator of the exponent. We can use this property to change any radical expression into an
exponential expression.

2a. Converting to Fractional Exponents

Let’s look at some examples of converting radicals to fractional exponents.

Fractional
Radical Explanation
Exponent

To convert to a fractional exponent, we identify the index and the

exponent of the radical. If no index is given, it is assumed to be 2, or the

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 54
 square root. The exponent of this radical is 3. The numerator is 3, and the

denominator of the fraction is 2. So, the fractional exponent is .

To convert to a fractional exponent, we identify the index and the

exponent of the radical. The index of the radical is 4. If no exponent is given, it

is assumed to be 1. The numerator is 1, and the denominator of the fraction is 4.

So, the fractional exponent is .

The exponent of this radical and the numerator of the radical is 3. The index of
the radical and the denominator of the fraction is 5. So, the fractional exponent

is .

The exponent of this radical and the numerator of the radical is 5. The index of
the radical and the denominator of the fraction is 6. Note the expression under
the radical 3x remains the base of the fractional exponent. So, the fractional

exponent is .

 TRY IT

Consider the expression .

Convert this expression to a fractional exponent. +

The exponent of this radical and the numerator of the fractional exponent is 3. The index of the radical
and the denominator of the fraction is 2. Note the expression under the radical remains the base of

the fractional exponent. So, the fractional exponent is .

2b. Converting to Radicals

Let’s look at some examples of converting fractional exponents to radicals.

Fractional
Radical Explanation
Exponent

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 To convert to a radical, the numerator of the fractional exponent, 3, is the

exponent. The denominator of the exponent is the index of the radical, 4. So,
the radical is .

To convert to a radical, the numerator of the fractional exponent, 2, is

the exponent of the radical. The denominator of the fraction, 7, is the index of
the radical. Notice the base of the exponent remains under the radical. So, the
radical is .

To convert to a radical, the numerator of the fractional exponent, 5, is the

exponent of the radical. The denominator of the exponent 3 is the index of the
radical. So, the radical is .

 TRY IT

Consider the expression .

Convert this expression to a radical. +

To convert to a radical, the numerator of the fractional exponent, 3, is the exponent of the radical.

The denominator of the fraction, 5, is the index of the radical. Notice the base of the exponent, ,

remains under the radical. So, .

 SUMMARY

The relationship between radicals and exponents is that radicals and exponents are inverse
operations of each other, meaning they cancel each other out. Recognizing common squares and
perfect cubes is extremely useful in evaluating and simplifying radical expressions, particularly square
roots and cube roots. The general idea of taking roots applies to other types of radicals as well, such as
higher roots. Another way to represent radicals is by converting radicals to exponents. You can
convert fractional exponents and radicals to one another by using the property of fractional

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 56
 exponents. The largest advantage of being able to change a radical expression into an exponential
expression is that we are now allowed to use all of our exponent properties to simplify.

Source: ADAPTED FROM "BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA" BY TYLER WALLACE, AN OPEN
SOURCE TEXTBOOK AVAILABLE AT www.wallace.ccfaculty.org/book/book.html. License: Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License

 FORMULAS TO KNOW

Properties of Fractional Exponents

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 57
 Properties of Fractional and Negative Exponents
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn how to simplify an expression with fractional exponents. Specifically, this
lesson will cover:
1. Properties of Fractional and Negative Exponents
2. Using All Exponent Properties

1. Properties of Fractional and Negative

Exponents
When we simplify radicals with exponents, we divide the exponent by the index. Another way to write division is
with a fraction bar. This idea is how we will define rational exponents.

 FORMULA TO KNOW

Properties of Fractional Exponents

Rule #1:

Rule #2:

When converting between radical to exponent, the denominator of the rational exponent becomes the index on
our radical. Likewise, the index on the radical becomes the denominator of the exponent. We can use this
property to change any radical expression into an exponential expression.

EXAMPLE Notice how the index of the radical becomes the denominator of the fraction:

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 58
 EXAMPLE Notice how the negative exponents come from reciprocals:

We can also change any rational exponent into a radical expression by using the denominator as the index.

EXAMPLE Again, note how the denominator of the exponent becomes the index of the radical:

EXAMPLE Again, note how the negative exponent means a reciprocal:

The ability to change between exponential expressions and radical expressions allows us to evaluate problems
we had no means of evaluating before, by changing to a radical.

EXAMPLE

Change to a radical; the denominator is the index, and negative means take the
reciprocal.

Evaluate the radical.

Evaluate the exponent.

Our solution

2. Using All Exponent Properties

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 59
 The biggest advantage of being able to change a radical expression into an exponential expression is we are
now allowed to use all our exponent properties to simplify. The following table reviews all of our exponent
properties.

 BIG IDEA

Properties of Exponents General Form

Product Property

Quotient Property

Power of a Power Property

Power of a Product Property

Power of a Quotient Property

Zero Property of Exponents

Properties of Negative Exponents

When adding and subtracting with fractions, we need to be sure to have a common denominator. When
multiplying, we only need to multiply the numerators together and denominators together. The following
examples show several different problems, using different properties to simplify rational exponents.

EXAMPLE

We need a common denominator on a’s (6) and b’s (10).

Add the exponents on a’s and b’s.

Our solution

EXAMPLE

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 Multiply each exponent by .

Our solution

EXAMPLE

In the numerator, we need a common denominator to add the exponents.

Subtract the exponents on x and reduce the exponents on y.

The negative exponent moves down to the denominator.

Our solution

EXAMPLE

We need a common denominator on the x’s in parentheses; use .

Subtract the exponents.

Multiply by .

Our solution

 SUMMARY

It is important to remember that as we simplify with fractional and negative exponents, we are using the
same properties of fractional and negative exponents we used when simplifying integer exponents.

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 61
 The only difference is we need to follow our rules for fractions as well. It may be worth reviewing your
notes on exponent properties to be sure you’re comfortable with using all the exponent properties.

Source: ADAPTED FROM "BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA" BY TYLER WALLACE, AN OPEN
SOURCE TEXTBOOK AVAILABLE AT www.wallace.ccfaculty.org/book/book.html. License: Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License

 FORMULAS TO KNOW

Power of a Power Property of Exponents

Power of a Product Property of Exponents

Power of a Quotient Property of Exponents

Product Property of Exponents

Properties of Fractional Exponents

Quotient Property of Exponents

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 62
 Writing Numbers in Scientific Notation
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn how to write numbers in scientific notation as numbers in standard form
and vice versa. Specifically, this lesson will cover:
1. Writing Numbers in Scientific Notation
2. Converting from Scientific Notation to Standard Notation

1. Writing Numbers in Scientific Notation

Mathematicians, scientists, and economists commonly encounter very large and very small numbers, but they
may also come up in everyday life. For instance, say your smartphone camera records an image that is 2,048
pixels by 1,536 pixels. It can perceive a color depth (gradations in colors) of up to 48 bits per pixel and can shoot
the equivalent of 24 frames per second for video. How much storage do you need for a 20-minute video?

Using a calculator, we enter 2,048×1,536×48×24×60×20 and press ENTER. You likely will get this as the answer:

4.348654387E12 (the “E” might be smaller)

What does this mean? The “E12” portion of the result means “x 10¹².” This is an example of scientific notation.
For the full number, we would move the decimal 12 spaces to the right to get 43,486,544,000 (about 43 billion
bytes, or 43 gigabytes). If the phone doesn’t have that much storage, we’ll have to either lower the quality of the
video or find another way to store it.
Another example that might be familiar is wondering if a medical mask will prevent transmission of a virus.
Viruses are extraordinarily small, about 100 billionths of a meter, or 0.0000001 meters. The pores in a surgical
face mask are often 1000 billionths of a meter, or 0.000001. The holes in the mask are much larger than the
viruses! Does this mean masks are useless? Absolutely not, as masks don’t work like a colander works to drain
water from pasta. Viral particles need only to get close to a mask fiber; once a viral particle gets close, it will be
attracted to the surface and stick. Once we learn how to express these very small numbers using scientific
notation, we’ll be able to more easily compare these numbers and make conclusions.

First, we will look at what scientific notation is. Scientific notation has two parts: a number between 1 and 10 (it
can be equal to 1, but not 10), and a power of 10 (10 raised to an integer power).

Scientific Notation: where

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 The exponent, b, is very important to how we convert between scientific notation and normal numbers, or
standard notation. The exponent tells us how many times we will multiply by a factor of 10. Multiplying by 10 in
effect moves the decimal point one place to the right. The exponent will tell us how many times the exponent
moves between scientific notation and standard notation. To decide which direction to move the decimal (left or
right), we simply need to remember that positive exponents mean in standard notation we have a big number
(bigger than 10), and negative exponents mean in standard notation we have a small number (less than 1).
Keeping this in mind, we can easily make conversions between standard notation and scientific notation.

EXAMPLE
Convert to Put the decimal after the first nonzero number.
scientific notation.

Count how many times you have to move the decimal to obtain the original
number.

The exponent is how many times the decimal moved, 4.

There is a positive exponent; the standard notation is big.

Our solution

EXAMPLE
Convert to Put the decimal after the first nonzero number.
scientific notation.

Count how many times you have to move the decimal to obtain the original
number.

The exponent is how many times the decimal moved, 3.

There is a negative exponent; the standard notation is small.

Our solution

Let's look at a few more examples.

Standard Notation Scientific Notation

 TRY IT

Consider the number 24,500.

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 Convert this number to scientific notation. +

Here is the number.

Put the decimal after the first nonzero number.

The exponent is how many times the decimal moved, 4. It is also a positive
exponent because in standard notation, the number is big.

Combine both parts.

 BIG IDEA

When converting into scientific notation, if we move the decimal to the left, this increases the exponent. If
we move the decimal to the right, this decreases the exponent.

 HINT

Recall that the decimal number in scientific notation must be at least 1, but no greater than 10. This means

that and are not in proper scientific notation. To correct these types of expressions, the

decimal needs to shift either to the right or to the left, to fit our rules for what the decimal number can be:

: 0.4 needs to be written as 4.0, and the exponent needs to change from 4 to 3

(decreasing due to a shift to the right).

: 11.2 needs to be written as 1.12, and the exponent needs to change from -2 to

-1 (increasing due to a shift to the left).

 TERM TO KNOW

Scientific Notation

where

2. Converting from Scientific Notation to

Standard Notation
We can use similar thinking to convert from a number written in scientific notation into standard notation. For
these types of conversions, remember that a positive exponent means a large number, and a negative
exponent means a small number.

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 65
 EXAMPLE

Convert to The positive exponent means the standard notation is a big number. Move the
standard notation. decimal to the right 5 places.

Simplify the solution with any commas.

Our solution

EXAMPLE

Convert to The negative exponent means the standard notation is a small number. Move
standard notation. the decimal to the left 3 places.

Simplify the solution.

Our solution

 TRY IT

Consider the number .

Convert this number to standard notation. +

Here is the number.

The negative exponent means the standard notation is a small number.

Move the decimal to the left 4 places.

Place the decimal in the final spot.

 TRY IT

A millimeter is 1/1000th of a meter.

How would you write this in scientific notation? +

A thousand is 1000, showing three factors of 10. A millimeter is thus 1 x 10⁻³ meters.

The moon is 3.84 x 10⁸ meters from the earth.

How would you translate this into non-scientific terms? +

You would move the decimal point 8 places to the right for 384,000,000, or 384 million meters. You
might also say 384,000 kilometers.

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 66
  DID YOU KNOW

Archimedes (287 BC–212 BC), the Greek mathematician, developed a system for representing large
numbers using a system very similar to scientific notation. He used his system to calculate the number of
grains of sand it would take to fill the universe. His conclusion was 10⁶³ grains of sand because he figured
the universe to have a diameter of 10¹⁴ stadia, or about 2 light years.

 SUMMARY

It is important to remember that when you're writing numbers in scientific notation, you can only have
one nonzero digit to the left of the decimal, but you can have any number of digits to the right. Also
keep in mind when you're writing in scientific notation, moving the decimal to the left is going to
increase your exponent and moving the decimal to the right is going to decrease your exponent. When
you're converting from scientific notation to standard notation, a positive exponent indicates moving
the decimal to the right, and a negative exponent indicates moving the decimal to the left.

Source: ADAPTED FROM "BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA" BY TYLER WALLACE, AN OPEN
SOURCE TEXTBOOK AVAILABLE AT www.wallace.ccfaculty.org/book/book.html. License: Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License

 TERMS TO KNOW

Scientific Notation
A way to express numbers as the product of a decimal number and a power of 10.

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 67
 Multiplication and Division in Scientific Notation
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn how to multiply or divide numbers in scientific notation. Specifically, this
lesson will cover:
1. Multiplication and Division with Scientific Notation
2. Simplifying Solution

 BEFORE YOU START

Remember that many calculators (including web-based calculators) will use E or e to mean “10 to the power
of...” followed by the exponent (E is short for exponent). Knowing this, you can use a calculator to help with
calculations in scientific notation.

1. Multiplication and Division with Scientific

Notation
When converting between standard notation and scientific notation, it is important to understand how scientific
notation works and what it does. Here our main interest is to be able to multiply and divide numbers in scientific
notation using exponent properties. The way we do this is to first do the operation with the front number
(multiply or divide), then use exponent properties to simplify the 10’s. Scientific notation is the only time where it
will be allowed to have negative exponents in our final solution. The negative exponent simply informs us that
we are dealing with small numbers.

Here is an example of multiplying two numbers in scientific notation. Pay particular attention to which numbers
we multiply first, and how we deal with the powers of 10.

EXAMPLE
Deal with the numbers and 10's separately.

Multiply the numbers.

Use the product rule on the 10's and add the exponents.

Our solution

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 A similar process is used to divide in scientific notation. First, we divide the decimal part of the number and then
apply a property of exponents to easily divide the powers of 10.

EXAMPLE

Deal with the numbers and 10's separately.

Divide the numbers.

Use the quotient rule to subtract the exponents. Be careful with negatives!

Our solution

Notice that the properties of exponents can always be used in scientific notation. This is because the exponent
properties apply when the bases are the same, and the base is always 10 in scientific notation.

EXAMPLE Earlier, we saw that a virus is about 0.0000001 meters wide and the pores in a medical mask
are about 0.000001 meters wide. Let's convert these numbers to scientific notation.

Viruses: 0.0000001 m or m

Masks: 0.000001 m or m

To see how many times larger the holes in the masks are, we divide .

Divide 1.0 by 1.0.

Divide by .

Here is our result in scientific notation.

In standard form, we see that the size of the pores is 10 times the size of a typical particle of the virus.

 HINT

Calculators are very useful tools for manipulating expressions in scientific notation. Here is an example of a
calculator output when computing this expression.

 BRAINSTORM

Do you think we can use any properties of exponents as shortcuts when we raise a number in scientific
notation to an exponent power?

EXAMPLE

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 Use the power rule to deal with numbers and 10's separately.

Evaluate .

Multiply the exponents.

Our solution

 BIG IDEA

When multiplying and dividing in scientific notation, deal with the non-exponential and exponential
(containing the power of 10) separately. Multiply or divide the decimal number part first, then multiply or
divide the part with exponents, applying the property of exponents to either add or subtract the exponents.

2. Simplifying Solution
Often when we multiply or divide in scientific notation, the end result is not in scientific notation. We will then
have to convert the front number into scientific notation and then combine the 10’s using the product property
of exponents and adding the exponents.

EXAMPLE
Deal with the numbers and 10's separately.

Multiply the numbers.

Convert this number into scientific notation.

Use the product rule and add the exponents, using from the conversion.

Our solution

EXAMPLE

Deal with the numbers and 10's separately.

Divide the numbers.

Change this number to scientific notation.

Use the product and quotient rule, using from the conversion. Be careful
with signs:

Our solution

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 70
  SUMMARY

For multiplication and division with scientific notation, it is important to remember the following rules.
When you're multiplying numbers that are written in scientific notation, first multiply your decimal
numbers. Then, using the product of powers property, you're going to add your exponents. When
you're dividing numbers in scientific notation, first divide the decimal numbers, then use the quotient of
powers property to subtract your exponents. When you square a number in scientific notation, first
square the decimal number, then use the power of powers property to multiply your exponents. When
we multiply or divide in scientific notation and the end result is not in scientific notation, we need to
simplify the solution by converting the front number into scientific notation and then combining the 10’s
using the product property of exponents and adding the exponents.

Source: ADAPTED FROM "BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA" BY TYLER WALLACE, AN OPEN
SOURCE TEXTBOOK AVAILABLE AT www.wallace.ccfaculty.org/book/book.html. License: Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 71
 Evaluating Radicals
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn how to evaluate a given radical. Specifically, this lesson will cover:
1. Square Roots
2. Cube Roots
3. Higher Roots

 BEFORE YOU START

A new homeowner must clean her gutters, and for that, she needs a ladder. The roofline is 12 feet high.
Remembering a classic rule of safety, the homeowner knows a ladder should be placed one fourth of the
height away from the side—that is, 3 feet. She goes to the hardware store and finds ladders in sizes from 10
feet to 20 feet.

Which one should she buy?

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 72
 Solving problems like this are probably the most common use of radicals, or roots. Being able to calculate
roots is needed in fields like engineering, architecture, and even (appropriately!) in gardening! As you can
see, it can even come up for simple household projects. In this challenge, we will review the ways radicals
are evaluated so we can use them in algebra.

1. Square Roots
Square roots are the most common type of radical used. A square root “unsquares” a number. For example,
because , we say the square root of 25 is 5. The square root of 25 is written as .

EXAMPLE
Square Root Square Powers

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 Not possible

 HINT

In the last example, is undefined, as negatives have no square root. This is because if we square a

positive or a negative, the answer will be positive (or zero). Thus, we can only take square roots of non-
negative numbers. In another lesson, we define a method we can use to work with and evaluate negative
square roots, but for now, we will simply say they are undefined.
Not all numbers have a nice, even square root. For example, if we found on our calculator, the answer
would be 2.828427124746190097603377448419... and even this number is a rounded approximation of the
square root. Recall that a number such as this is called irrational. Decimal approximations will work in most
cases, but you may need the exact value, in which case you will express it using the radical symbol, rather than
expressing it as a decimal.

 HINT

When evaluating square roots, look for perfect squares. Perfect square are numbers such as 1, 4, 9, and 16

(they are integers squared). You can also use your calculator's radical button, or apply a exponent.

For example:

2. Cube Roots
Just like square roots undo squaring a number, cube roots undo cubing a number. For example, because ,
we say that the cube root of 8 is 2. The cube root of 8 is written as with a 3 as the index of the radical, to
indicate a cube root.

EXAMPLE

Notice that the cube root of a negative number results in a real number. This is because a negative number
cubed is a negative number. While square roots of negative numbers are non-real numbers, cube roots of
negative numbers are real numbers. This pattern holds true for all even roots and odd roots.

 BIG IDEA

Taking an even root of a negative number leads to a non-real solution because any negative number raised
to an even power is positive. However, taking an odd root of a negative number leads to a real number
solution because raising a negative number to an odd power results in a negative number.

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 74
  HINT

When evaluating a cube root, look for perfect cubes. These will result in an integer because perfect cubes
are integers cubed. Some examples of perfect cubes are 1, 8, 27, 64, and 125. You can also use your

calculator's cube root button, or raise to the fractional power . For example:

3. Higher Roots
While square and cube roots are the most common type of radical you will encounter, we can take higher roots
of numbers as well: cube roots, fourth roots, fifth roots, etc. Consider this definition of radicals:

 FORMULA TO KNOW

Definition of Radicals

The small letter m inside the radical is called the index. It tells us which root we are taking, or which power we
are “un-doing.” For square roots, the index is 2. As this is the most common root, the 2 is not usually written.

 DID YOU KNOW

The word for root comes from the French mathematician Franciscus Vieta in the late 16th century.
Take a look at several higher roots:

EXAMPLE
Higher Roots Higher Powers

Not possible

This last example is not possible, or is undefined, because if we take any positive or negative number to the
fourth power, the answer will be positive (or zero): or . Thus, we can
only take the fourth roots of non-negative numbers.

 HINT

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 We must be careful of a few things as we work with higher roots. First, it's important not to forget to check

the index on the root. but . This is because and . Another thing to watch out

for is negative values under roots. We can take an odd root of a negative number because a negative
number raised to an odd power is still negative. However, we cannot take an even root of a negative
number because a negative number raised to an even power is positive.

 SUMMARY

There are several methods you can use to evaluate radicals, or roots, such as square roots, cube roots,
and higher roots (fourth roots, fifth roots, etc.). If you use a calculator to evaluate the radical, you first
type in the radical button and then you type in the number. If your calculator does not have the
necessary nth root button, you're going to use a fractional exponent and type it in as caret, open
parentheses, one divided by n, close parentheses. And again, your n number is just the index of your
radical. And finally, the nth root of a negative number will not evaluate to be a real number if n is even⁠—
like square root⁠—but it will evaluate to be a real number if n is odd⁠—like the cubed root.

Source: ADAPTED FROM "BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA" BY TYLER WALLACE, AN OPEN
SOURCE TEXTBOOK AVAILABLE AT www.wallace.ccfaculty.org/book/book.html. License: Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License

 FORMULAS TO KNOW

Definition of Radicals

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 76
 Simplifying Radical Expressions
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn how to simplify a radical expression. Specifically, this lesson will cover:
1. Simplifying Radical Expressions
1a. Product Property
1b. Quotient Property

1. Simplifying Radical Expressions

Before heading into this topic, here is a problem for you to try.

 TRY IT

Consider the expressions and .

Evaluate both expressions and compare the results. +

Both results are 10, which means they are equal.

From the previous Try It, notice also that This suggests that This leads
to the product property of square roots.

 FORMULA TO KNOW

Product Property of Square Roots

We can prove this using exponent properties from earlier.

Rewrite the square root as an exponent of ½.

Apply the rule .

Rewrite each exponent as a square root.

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 In the context of simplifying radicals, a square root is in its simplest form if the radicand (the number under the
radical) contains no perfect square factor (other than 1).

Therefore, is in its simplest form, but is not since 4 divides into 28 evenly, and 4 is a perfect square.
The following example will show how this is simplified.

EXAMPLE Write in its simplest exact form.

Write 28 as since 4 is a perfect square.

Apply the product property of square roots.

Thus, the simplest exact form of is We know this is simplified since 7 is prime and therefore has
no perfect square factors.

 BIG IDEA

To simplify a radical expression, find perfect squares that divide evenly into the radicand.

EXAMPLE
75 is divisible by 25, a perfect square.

Split into factors.

Applying the product rule, take the square root of 25.

Our solution
If there is a coefficient in front of the radical to begin with, we simply multiply the coefficients.

EXAMPLE
63 is divisible by 9, a perfect square.

Split into factors.

Applying the product rule, take the square root of 9.

Multiply the coefficients.

Our solution
As we simplify radicals using this method, it is important to be sure our final answer can be simplified no more.

EXAMPLE
72 is divisible by 9, a perfect square.

Split into factors.

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 Applying the product rule, take the square root of 9.

But 8 is also divisible by a perfect square, 4.

Split into factors.

Applying the product rule, take the square root of 4.

Multiply the coefficients.

Our solution

The previous example could have been done in fewer steps if we had noticed that but often the
time it takes to discover the larger perfect square is more than it would take to simplify in several steps.

1a. Product Property

We can simplify higher roots in much the same way we simplified square roots, using the product property of
radicals.

 FORMULA TO KNOW

Product Property of Radicals

Often, we are not as familiar with higher powers as we are with squares. It is important to remember what index
we are working with as we try and work our way to the solution.

EXAMPLE
We are working with a cubed root, so we want third powers.

Test 2; , but 54 is not divisible by 8.

Test 3; , and 54 is divisible by 27!

Write as factors.

Applying the product rule, take the cubed root of 27.

Our solution

Just as with square roots, if we have a coefficient, we multiply the new coefficients together.

EXAMPLE
We are working with a fourth root, so we want fourth powers.

Test 2; , and 48 is divisible by 16!

Write as factors.

Applying the product rule, take the fourth root of 16.

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 Multiply the coefficients.

Our solution

1b. Quotient Property

Now let's talk about the quotient property of radicals, which is similar to the product property of radicals.

 FORMULA TO KNOW

Quotient Property of Radicals

EXAMPLE

Use the quotient property of radicals.

Divide 18 by 2

Simplify.

Our solution
Let's try another example but going in the other direction.

EXAMPLE

Use the quotient property of radicals.

Since 27 and 8 are both perfect cubes, take the cubed root of the numerator
and denominator.

Our solution

 SUMMARY

We can use the product or quotient properties to combine or break down radicands through
multiplication or division, and this will help us simplify radical expressions. When we're combining two
radicals into one using the product or quotient property, the index of the radicals must be the same.

Source: ADAPTED FROM "BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA" BY TYLER WALLACE, AN OPEN
SOURCE TEXTBOOK AVAILABLE AT www.wallace.ccfaculty.org/book/book.html. License: Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 80
  FORMULAS TO KNOW

Product Property of Radicals

Product Property of Square Roots

Quotient Property of Radicals

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 81
 Applying the Properties of Radicals
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn how to simplify a radical expression using the properties of radicals.
Specifically, this lesson will cover:
1. Properties of Radicals
2. Cautions When Applying the Properties
3. Applying the Properties of Radicals

1. Properties of Radicals
There are several properties of radicals we can apply to simplify expressions involving radicals. The following
properties are generally true whenever n is greater than 1, and and are both positive real numbers:

 FORMULA TO KNOW

Properties of Radicals

and

Product Property:

Quotient Property:

Fractional Exponents:

2. Cautions When Applying the Properties

Avoid these common errors when applying properties of radicals:

The properties of radicals only apply to factors; they do not apply to terms. For example, we can use the
product property of radicals to break into the two radicals because . However, we

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 82
 cannot break into . To verify this, approximate and using your calculator, and you
will see that these answers are quite different.
We can only bring an exponent outside of a radical if it applies to everything underneath the radical. For
example, we can rewrite as because the exponent of 2 applied to everything underneath the

radical. However, . This is because the exponent of 2 applies only to the x, not the 16. (We

could rewrite the expression as because )

Earlier, we saw that negative numbers do not have square roots since there is no way to multiply a number by
itself and end up with a negative number. Is the same true for higher roots? Let’s look at two examples side by
side:

The Root We
What Are We Trying to Find? Is This Possible?
Want to Evaluate

Find a number c so that This is not possible since the product of two numbers
which can be written . with the same sign is always positive.

Find a number c so that This is possible since the product of three negative
which can be written numbers is negative. The answer in this case is -2 since
.
In general, we know the following:

Multiplying positive numbers together gives a positive result.

Multiplying negative numbers together can give different results:
If there is an even number of factors, then the result is positive.
If there is an odd number of factors, then the result is negative.

This leads to a very important property of nth roots.

 BIG IDEA

When taking the nth root of a number x, it is written as

When n is even, the result is real if x is not negative.
When n is odd, the result is real for all real values of x. In fact, when x is negative, the value of the nth
root is also negative.

3. Applying the Properties of Radicals

When we recognize products, quotients, and powers with radicals, we can apply the properties of radicals to
simplify the expression.

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 EXAMPLE

Use the product property of radicals.

Evaluate:

Simplify.

Our solution

EXAMPLE Use the properties of radicals to simplify .

Use the quotient property of radicals.

Write all radicands with a perfect cube factor, where possible.

Use the product property of radicals in the numerator and denominator.

In the numerator, .

In the denominator, and .

Our solution

 SUMMARY

We can use the properties of radicals to simplify expressions and solve equations. There are some
cautions when applying the properties. Note that when applying the properties of radicals, they apply
only to factors, numbers, and variables combined by multiplication, not by addition or subtraction.

Source: ADAPTED FROM "BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA" BY TYLER WALLACE, AN OPEN
SOURCE TEXTBOOK AVAILABLE AT www.wallace.ccfaculty.org/book/book.html. License: Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License

 FORMULAS TO KNOW

Product Property of Radicals

Property of Fractional Exponents

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 84
 Quotient Property of Radicals

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 Calculating Diagonals
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn how to calculate the diagonal length of a rectangle using the Pythagorean
theorem. Specifically, this lesson will cover:
1. The Pythagorean Theorem
2. Calculating Diagonal Lengths
3. Applications

 BEFORE YOU START

A homeowner is trying to determine which ladder to buy to reach the roof of her home. To answer this
question, we can draw a diagram like this:

To answer this question, we need to establish a few things first, including a very important theorem about
right triangles.

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 1. The Pythagorean Theorem
The Pythagorean theorem uses the side lengths of the legs (a, b) of the right triangle to find the length of the
hypotenuse (c):

 FORMULA TO KNOW

Pythagorean Theorem

, where and b are legs of the triangle, and c is the hypotenuse.

Let’s recall the ladder problem from earlier:

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 Using the Pythagorean theorem, we can calculate the length of the hypotenuse of the right triangle. Since the
lengths of the legs are known, let and . Then, c (the hypotenuse) is the unknown.

Recall the Pythagorean theorem.

and .

Evaluate the squares.

Simplify the left-hand side.

Apply the definition of square root.

Approximate to give us context about the length of the ladder needed.

Recall that we were choosing between a 10-foot ladder and a 14-foot ladder. This means that the 14-foot ladder
will be more than long enough to get the job done.

NOTE: Had we used and , we would have gotten the same result. Can you see why?

2. Calculating Diagonal Lengths

In construction, builders can ensure a room, house, or deck—or any other rectangular structure—is square (all
angles are 90 degrees) by making sure the diagonals of the rectangle are equal. A diagonal connects two non-
adjacent vertices in an enclosed shape. Below is an example of a diagonal of a rectangle:

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 Notice that the diagonal of the rectangle connects two opposite corners. It also creates two congruent triangles,
meaning that two triangles are the same size and take up the same amount of space. We should also point out
that the triangles are right triangles because one of their angles is a 90-degree angle (taken from the 90-
degree angles of the rectangle).

Let's take a closer look at the rectangle and the two triangles that the diagonal created. The sides of the
rectangle correspond to the vertical and horizontal legs of the right triangle and the diagonal as the hypotenuse
of the right triangle. (The hypotenuse is always opposite of the right angle.)

EXAMPLE Consider a rectangle with side lengths of 3.5 feet and 8 feet. Find the length of its diagonal.

Notice that the rectangle can be split into two right triangles, each with sides 3.5 and 8 feet. We can use the

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 89
 Pythagorean theorem with and to find the length of the diagonal.

Use the Pythagorean theorem and substitute the measurements of the leg.

Square 3.5 feet and 8 feet and evaluate.

Add 12.25 ft² and 64 ft².

Apply the square root of both sides.

Evaluate.

Our solution (rounded to the hundredths place)

Another method to solve this problem is to rewrite the Pythagorean theorem, isolating c on one side of the
equation. Then, we can substitute and b into the equation and calculate the length of the diagonal. This is
shown in the example below:

EXAMPLE Use the same right triangle above, with side lengths of 3.5 feet and 8 feet.

Start with the Pythagorean theorem and take the square root of both sides.

Substitute the measurements of the leg.

Square 3.5 ft and 8 ft.

Add 12.25 ft² and 64 ft².

Take the square root.

Our solution (rounded to the hundredths place)

 TRY IT

A square has side length 15 ft.

Calculate the length of its diagonal to the nearest tenth of a foot. +

Using the Pythagorean theorem, the length of the diagonal is approximately 21.2 feet. The calculations
are as follows:

Recall the Pythagorean theorem.

Substitute and .

Simplify the left-hand side.

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 Take the square root.

Approximate to the nearest tenth.

3. Applications
The Pythagorean theorem can be applied to find diagonals in the real world.

 DID YOU KNOW

Television manufacturers state the screen size of each TV based on the length of its diagonal. If you have a
32-inch television at home, your TV screen measures 32 inches across its diagonal. This same convention
is used for screens on computer monitors and smartphones.

 TRY IT

Rudy would like to purchase a 55” flatscreen TV and wants to make sure it fits on a built-in shelf in his new
place. He went to the store to check them out and measured the height to be 30.2” high. However, he
forgot to measure the length.

What is the length of the TV to the nearest tenth of an inch? +

Since the diagonal length is 55 inches, this is the hypotenuse. Then, one of the other sides is 30.2
inches. The Pythagorean theorem is used to find the length of the other side.

Recall the Pythagorean theorem.

Substitute and .

Simplify both sides.

Subtract 912.04 from both sides.

Take the square root to find b.

To the nearest tenth of an inch, the length of the TV is 46 inches.

Therefore, if the shelf is more than 46” wide, he will have no problems installing this new TV.

EXAMPLE On a hiking trail, there are two potential paths from A to B, as shown in this picture. The
direct path has less scenery and opportunities to spot wildlife, but it’s also shorter. A hiker wants to know if

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 they will be able to manage the extra distance required for the scenic route. How much longer is the scenic
route?

The distance from A to C is 2.1 miles, while the distance from C to B is 0.8 miles.

The first thing we can do is find the distance from A to B, which is done using the Pythagorean theorem.
Since the length of the diagonal is unknown, call this c. Then, we can use and

Recall the Pythagorean theorem.

Substitute and .

Apply the exponents on the left-hand side.

Simplify the left-hand side.

Take the square root to find c.

To the nearest hundredth of a mile, the length of the direct path from A to B is about
2.25 miles.

Now, we can compare lengths. The length of the scenic path is miles.

Now, find the difference, which is miles.

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 Therefore, the scenic path is 0.65 miles longer.

 SUMMARY

The diagonal of a rectangle or square corresponds to the hypotenuse of a right triangle. To calculate
the diagonal, we can use the Pythagorean theorem, which we use for right triangles, to calculate the
diagonal length of a rectangle or square. There are two different forms of the Pythagorean theorem.
Remember that c in our formula must be the hypotenuse, but and b can be either of the legs of our
right triangle. The Pythagorean theorem has many useful applications finding diagonals in the real
world.

Source: ADAPTED FROM "BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA" BY TYLER WALLACE, AN OPEN
SOURCE TEXTBOOK AVAILABLE AT www.wallace.ccfaculty.org/book/book.html. License: Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License

 FORMULAS TO KNOW

Pythagorean Theorem

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 93
 Area
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn how to calculate the area of a rectangle, square, and circle using formulas
for area. Specifically, this lesson will cover:
1. Area Formulas
2. Calculate the Area Given Side Lengths or Radii
3. Calculate Side Lengths or Radii Given Area

1. Area Formulas
Formulas are often thought of as special types of equations where two or more quantities are equated to one
another.

There are several different types of formulas that we will come across when working in most math courses.
Here are a few of the most common formulas.

When we try to determine how much space is covered in a two-dimensional space, we need to use the concept
of area. For example, when buying a house, we oftentimes will consider the total living space in a house, which
is considering how much floor space the house has.

Because area is represented in two dimensions, we represent quantities of area as squared units. For example,
we might say that a square living room has a total area of 625 square feet, which might mean that the length of
the room is 25 feet, and the width is 25 feet.

 BRAINSTORM

Can you think of another example where we might need to use area?

Suppose we wanted to paint the outer walls of a house. We may want to estimate the total area of the
house’s exterior to get an estimate of the total amount of paint that we would need.

 BIG IDEA

You will notice that when calculating area, you will always be multiplying two distances with one another to
determine the two-dimensional space covered by an object.

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 When calculating areas, there are a few common shapes that you will always come across, as we have
previously defined. These shapes and their area formulas are listed below.

 FORMULA TO KNOW

Area of a Rectangle
, where A is the area, l is the length, and w is the width.

If the sides of a rectangle are the same, the shape is called a square. This leads to a special case of the area
formula. If we call each side s, then

 FORMULA TO KNOW

Area of a Square

, where A is the area and s is the length of a side.

Area of a Triangle

, where A is area, b is base, and h is height.

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  HINT

Note that the height of a triangle is the distance of the line from one vertex (or corner) of the triangle to the
opposite base, such that the line is perpendicular to the base.

 FORMULA TO KNOW

Area of a Circle

 HINT

Note that the radius of a circle is the distance from the center of a circle to the edge of the circle. Pi is a
constant irrational number equal to 3.14159265….

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 Let’s look at how we can use these different area formulas to find some unknown quantity.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Formula
A mathematical rule that relates two or more quantities.

Pi (π)
The ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter; approximately equal to 3.14.

2. Calculate the Area Given Side Lengths or Radii

EXAMPLE Karissa has a bedroom in her house that needs new carpet. The room is rectangular with
length 12.5 feet and width 11 feet. How much carpeting needs to be purchased?

Recall the area formula.

Note that .

Multiply 12.5 and 11; the units are also multiplied.

Multiplying ft by ft gives ft². This is our solution.

Notice that when calculating area, we square the units of distance.

EXAMPLE Suppose we are asked to find the area of a circle with a diameter of 9 inches. How would we
make this calculation? As with the previous example, we start by writing down the appropriate area formula
and substitute in the quantities we know.

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 Here, we are given the diameter of the circle, but we need to know the radius to use the formula. The
diameter of a circle is simply the distance of the line passing through the center of a circle and touching the
circle’s edge. In other words, the diameter, d, is twice as long as the radius, r,

Since the diameter for this circle was 9 inches, the radius must be 4.5 inches.

This is the formula for the area of a circle.

Substitute 4.5 in for r.

Square the radius.

Our solution (rounded to the tenths place)

3. Calculate Side Lengths or Radii Given Area

Sometimes, we may be given the area of an object and need to back-solve an equation to find the
measurements of a related part of an object. Let’s look at some examples.

EXAMPLE Nihari is looking for a new apartment in the big city. She sees a good deal on an apartment
advertising 400 square feet of living space. Assuming the apartment is square, what are the dimensions of
this apartment?

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 When solving these types of problems, we follow the same process as we did before but then do some
algebraic manipulation to solve the problem. Note that the length and width of a square is the same, so we
can refer to side length using a single variable, s.

Take the square root of both sides.

Our solution

EXAMPLE If the area of a circle is what is the radius of the circle?

Like in the previous example, we begin by substituting what we know into the appropriate formula. Notice
that the area contains pi in it. This is often the same when we represent area exactly; we leave the pi
multiplied to the number.

Divide both sides by .

Take the square root of both sides.

Our solution

 WATCH

In this video, we’ll find an unknown radius when the area isn’t a multiple of π.

 SUMMARY

As an introduction to area, we learned that the area of an object is the amount of space enclosed in a
two-dimensional shape. Area is measured in square units, such as centimeters squared or inches
squared. Common area formulas include areas of rectangles, triangles, and circles. We can also use
formulas to calculate the area when given side lengths or radii, as well as to calculate the side lengths
or radii when given an area.

Source: ADAPTED FROM "BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA" BY TYLER WALLACE, AN OPEN
SOURCE TEXTBOOK AVAILABLE AT www.wallace.ccfaculty.org/book/book.html. License: Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License

 TERMS TO KNOW

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 99
 Pi (π)
The ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter; approximately equal to 3.14.

 FORMULAS TO KNOW

Area of Circle

Area of Rectangle

Area of Triangle

© 2024 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 100
 Volume
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn how to calculate the volume of a rectangular prism and cylinder using
formulas for volume. Specifically, this lesson will cover:
1. Volume Formulas
2. Finding Side Lengths or Radii Given the Volume

1. Volume Formulas
Volume is the amount of space contained within a three-dimensional object. Shapes such as spheres, prisms,
and cylinders are three-dimensional objects that take up a certain amount of space, which we can call their
volume. We measure volume in cubic units. Here are some examples of cubic measurements:

cubic meters

cubic feet

cubic kilometers

With these measurements, we can easily tell they are cubic measurements because they include an exponent
of 3. Not all cubic measurements have this visual clue. For example, the liter is abbreviated with the letter L and
does not contain an exponent of 3, yet it is a cubic measurement (it measures liquid volume and is actually
equivalent to 1000 cubic centimeters).

There are several formulas for finding the volumes of different shapes. We are going to focus on the volumes of
a rectangular prism, cylinder, and sphere. Here are the formulas to know:

 FORMULA TO KNOW

Volume of a Rectangular Prism

, where V is volume, l is length, w is width, and h is height.

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 EXAMPLE Take a look at the figure below:

To find the volume, we simply multiply all of the dimensions together. This includes the units of
measurement.

 FORMULA TO KNOW

Volume of a Cylinder

, where V is volume, r is the radius of the circular base, h is height, and π is approximately 3.14.

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 EXAMPLE Find the volume of the following cylinder:

To find the volume, we first square the radius of the circular base, and then we multiply by pi and the height.
Remember that the order of operations dictates exponents before multiplication, so that's why we square
the radius before multiplying anything.

Here is the formula for the volume of a cylinder.

Substitute the radius length and height.

Square the radius.

Multiply by 4 inches.

Our solution, using .

 HINT

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 Notice that some of these formulas include the number, pi. Pi is an important number. Pi is a constant
irrational number equal to 3.14159265…. If you need to give a decimal approximation, use in place
of π.

 FORMULA TO KNOW

Volume of a Sphere

, where V is volume, r is the radius, and π is approximately 3.14.

EXAMPLE Find the volume of the sphere pictured below:

The only piece of information we are given is the radius of the sphere, but this is all we need to calculate
the volume. Just like with the volume of a cylinder, first we apply the exponent. After cubing the radius, we
multiply it by pi and then by four thirds.

Here is the formula for the volume of a sphere.

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 Substitute the radius length.

Cube the radius.

Multiply by .

Our solution, using .

 HINT

To leave your answer as an exact value, you can choose to leave pi as π multiplied by a number. If you need
to give a decimal approximation, use π = 3.14.

2. Finding Side Lengths or Radii Given the

Volume
In our previous examples, we used given measurements for side lengths and radii to calculate the volume of a
three-dimensional object. In the following examples, we are going to use a given measurement of volume to
calculate a side length or a radius. We will use the same formulas but in a different way.

EXAMPLE Find the side length of a rectangular prism:

Dividing both sides of the equation by the length and the height will do two things: First, it will cancel the
length and the width from one side of the equation, leaving just an expression for the width.

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 Second, it can help us cancel the cubic units on the other side of the equation, leaving our answer in linear
centimeters. (Linear centimeters just means regular centimeters we use to measure. We would only say
“linear” if we wanted to make it clear that it isn't square centimeters or cubic centimeters.)

Now we can perform the numeric division on the left side of the equation. This is our solution for the width
of the prism:

Divide the volume by the length and height.

Simplify the denominator.

Our solution
Lastly, let's use a volume formula to solve for an unknown radius.

EXAMPLE Find the radius for the sphere below:

We are given the volume as 64.45 cubic inches, with an unknown radius. Substituting known information
into the formula for the volume of a sphere, we have:

To solve this equation, we need to isolate r. If we look at the numbers and operations surrounding the

variable r, it is being raised to the power of 3 and then multiplied by Therefore, the first hurdle is to

isolate r³ to one side. Once that’s accomplished, we just need to take the cube root to solve for r.

Here is the volume formula for a sphere.

Substitute the known volume.

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 Multiply both sides by 3 to clear the fraction.

Divide both sides by 4π, but do not round yet.

Apply the cube root.

Replace π with 3.14, then approximate to the nearest hundredth.

 HINT

Isolating r³ to one side at first can be done in one of several ways.

Since is a number, it can be divided in one step.

You could evaluate first and then divide it through both sides of the equation (if rounding,

remember to use several decimal places).

Another strategy is to divide by first (or multiply by the reciprocal), then divide by π. You could also

first divide by π and then divide by (or multiply by the reciprocal).

 SUMMARY

Volume is the amount of space that's enclosed in a three-dimensional object. Because volume is the
amount of space in a three-dimensional object, it uses cubic units, such as ft³ or cm³. Volume formulas
for three different three-dimensional objects include volume of a rectangular prism (which includes a
cube), the volume of a cylinder, and the volume of a sphere. We can also find side lengths or radii
given the volume by using the formulas in a different way.

Source: ADAPTED FROM "BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA" BY TYLER WALLACE, AN OPEN
SOURCE TEXTBOOK AVAILABLE AT www.wallace.ccfaculty.org/book/book.html. License: Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License

 TERMS TO KNOW

Pi (π)
The ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter; approximately equal to 3.14.

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  FORMULAS TO KNOW

Volume of Cylinder

Volume of Rectangular Prism

Volume of Sphere

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 Converting Units
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn how to use simple conversion factors to convert units in a given scenario.
Specifically, this lesson will cover:
1. Introduction to Converting Units
2. Simple Unit Conversion
3. Multi-Step Unit Conversion
4. Converting Units of Area and Volume

1. Introduction to Converting Units

Unit conversion is a simple process to overlook, but doing so can have dramatic effects on the results of any
project we may be working on. For example, suppose someone told us that a machine needs to be able to
handle a 50,000 N load. If we were in a country that uses the metric system, that may make perfect sense to us.
If we are in the United States, where English units are used, that may not make any sense at all. The need then
arises to convert 50,000 N into pounds (lbs), so that we can more easily understand the quantities we are
working with. Unit conversion allows us to express 50,000 N as roughly 11,240 lbs, or 5.62 tons. While the
numbers and units are different, the actual quantity they represent is the same.

 BIG IDEA

Notice that each of these values has different units, but they represent the same amount of force. That is
why unit conversion is important. It allows us to represent quantities in terms of measurements we
understand or need to work with.
Let’s next look at how to do some unit conversion.

2. Simple Unit Conversion

To convert units, we first need to understand something called a conversion factor, which is basically a fraction
equal to 1 that relates two different units.

 STEP BY STEP

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 1. List the value you are given.
2. Determine the conversion factor.
3. Multiply the conversion factor by the given value, making sure that the units we start with cancel, and
the unit we are looking for will be left.
4. Simplify as needed.

EXAMPLE Suppose we have 160 cups of water, and we want to determine how many gallons of water
this is. Before we make any calculations, we might recall that there are 16 cups in one gallon of water. This
knowledge will help us determine what our conversion factor will be.

So, how do we begin converting?

For the problem involving cups to water, here is what this would look like:

Conversion factor: 1 gallon = 16 cups

Place 16 cups in the denominator so that the “cups” cancel.

Multiply across numerators and denominators.

The units of cups cancel.

Our solution

 TRY IT

Try doing the following calculations on your own and then check the solutions.

Convert 7200 seconds into hours, using the fact that 1 hour = 3600 seconds. +

Conversion factor: 1 hour = 3600 seconds

Multiply across numerators and denominators.

The units of seconds cancel.

Our solution

Convert 2 miles into feet, using the fact that 1 mile = 5280 feet. +

Conversion factor: 5280 feet = 1 mile

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 Multiply the numerators and denominators.

Our solution

3. Multi-Step Unit Conversion

In the above example of converting seconds to hours, suppose we did not know a conversion factor between
hours and seconds. Do you think we can make the conversion?

Of course! In cases such as this, we may wish to use multiple conversion factors to help us make a conversion.
For example, we may know that there are 60 seconds in 1 minute, and 60 minutes in 1 hour.

Therefore, we can do the following:

EXAMPLE

Conversion factors: 1 min = 60 sec; 1 hr = 60 min

Multiply the numerators and denominators.

The units of seconds and minutes cancel, leaving hours.

Our solution

 TRY IT

Try your hand at converting 3 meters into inches. Note that there are 2.54 centimeters in 1 inch, and 100
centimeters in 1 meter.

Convert 3 meters into inches. +

To solve this problem, we can implement the conversion factors 2.54 centimeter = 1 inch and 100
centimeter = 1 meter, and string the conversion factors together.

Conversion factors: 1 m = 100 cm; 1 in = 2.54 cm

Multiply the numerators and denominators.

The units of meters and centimeters cancel, leaving inches.

Our solution

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 4. Converting Units of Area and Volume
Sometimes when converting units, we may need to convert between squared units (area) or cubed units
(volume). In these instances, we follow the same process as before, but we have to be careful with our
conversion factors. Let's look at some examples.

EXAMPLE Suppose we are told that we need to convert 200 square feet into square inches. How
would we go about doing this calculation?

Before we begin the conversion, we need to determine if we are using the correct conversion factor. Here,
we may be tempted to use 12 inches in 1 foot, making the conversion factor (12 inches / 1 foot). However, we
would be incorrect when making this calculation. In truth, there are 12 inches • 12 inches, or 144 square
inches in 1 square foot.

Here is a picture to help visualize this.

Each side is 1 foot, or 12 inches. This means that each block is

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 This also means that the entire figure has area

Therefore, the conversion between square feet and square inches is

Going through the calculations, we would do the following:

Conversion factor: 1 sq ft = 144 sq in

Multiply the numerators and denominators.

The units of square feet cancel, leaving square inches.

Our solution
Let’s now look at a real-life situation in which we need to use conversions involving volume.

IN CONTEXT

A home cook has made a pot of soup for a sick friend. He’s let the soup cool enough to store but now
must decide which storage container to use. The pot is in the shape of a cylinder, so he takes quick
measurements: The diameter is 10 inches, and the depth of the soup is about 5 inches. His storage
containers are also cylindrical but have measurements in quarts. How can he figure out how much
liquid is in the pot? Since the volume will be measured in cubic inches, we need a conversion factor
between cubic inches and quarts. After doing some research, it is found that 1 quart is 57.75 cubic
inches.

To solve this problem, here is what we need to do:

Find the volume of soup in the pot.

Convert the result to quarts.

A) Find the volume of the soup.

Here is the formula for the volume of a cylinder with a circular base.

Since the diameter of the base is 10, the radius is 5.

Simplify the result.

Using 3.14 for π, approximate the volume.

To ensure that the soup fits in the container, we’ll round this to 400 in³, just because this is a nice
number. Note that rounding up helps us to play it safe. We would never round down since our goal is

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 to make sure the container is large enough.

B) Now, apply the conversion factor to determine the number of quarts.

Place the cubic inches in the denominator so that these units cancel out
and we are left with quarts.

Simplify (cubic inches drop).

Approximate to the nearest tenth.

Conclusion: Any container larger than 6.926 quarts would suffice. In reality, 7 quarts might be a tight
squeeze, so anything larger will be optimal.

Note: This is almost 2 gallons of soup!

 BIG IDEA

The key idea here is that we must match squared units with squared units when choosing the conversion
factor.

EXAMPLE Suppose you want to convert 5 cubic feet to liters. How would you make this conversion,
given that there are approximately 30.48 centimeters in 1 foot and 0.001 liters in 1 cubic centimeter?

Here, we have to first determine a conversion factor between cubic feet and liters. Right now, we do not
have a conversion factor relating the two; however, we do know how many centimeters are in 1 foot.
Therefore, if we take the cube of 30.48 centimeters, we would know how many cubic centimeters there are
in 1 cubic foot. With this knowledge, we can use the other conversion factor we are given to convert
between cubic centimeters to liters.

Using this conversion factor, we can now begin making our conversion.

Here are the conversion factors for to and to L.

Multiply the numerators and denominators.

The units of and cancel, leaving L.

Our solution (rounded to the hundredths place)

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  BIG IDEA

When working with volume conversion, you must make sure your conversion factor is converting between
cubic units.

 SUMMARY

As an introduction to converting units, we learned that unit conversion allows us to express

measurements with different units. They are the same measurement but with different units. We can
use simple unit conversion for any type of measurement such as length, time, area, volume, or rate,
such as miles per hour. Some cases require multi-step unit conversions, such as hours to minutes to
seconds. When converting units of area and volume, you're converting with square units or cubic units.
Square units require you to square the linear conversion, while cubic units require you to cube the
linear conversion.

Source: ADAPTED FROM "BEGINNING AND INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA" BY TYLER WALLACE, AN OPEN
SOURCE TEXTBOOK AVAILABLE AT www.wallace.ccfaculty.org/book/book.html. License: Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License

 TERMS TO KNOW

Conversion Factor
A fraction equal to one that is multiplied by a quantity to convert it into an equivalent quantity in different
units.

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 Terms to Know
Absolute Value
The distance between a number and zero on the number line; it is always non-negative.

Conversion Factor
A fraction equal to one that is multiplied by a quantity to convert it into an equivalent quantity
in different units.

Integers
Natural numbers and their opposites, including zero.

Irrational Numbers
Numbers which cannot be represented as a ratio of integers.

PEMDAS
An acronym to remember the order of operations: parentheses, exponents, multiplication and
division, addition and subtraction.

Pi (π)
The ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter; approximately equal to 3.14.

Rational Numbers
Numbers which can be represented as a ratio of integers, a/b.

Real Numbers
Numbers that can be expressed as a decimal and placed on the number line.

Scientific Notation
A way to express numbers as the product of a decimal number and a power of 10.

Formulas to Know
Area of Circle

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 Area of Rectangle

Area of Triangle

Definition of Radicals

Power of a Power Property of Exponents

Power of a Product Property of Exponents

Power of a Quotient Property of Exponents

Product Property of Exponents

Product Property of Radicals

Product Property of Square Roots

Properties of Fractional Exponents

Properties of Negative Exponents

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 Property of Fractional Exponents

Pythagorean Theorem

Quotient Property of Exponents

Quotient Property of Radicals

Volume of Cylinder

Volume of Rectangular Prism

Volume of Sphere

Zero Property of Exponents

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