radical


The     is called a radical. The of the radical symbol is the first letter “r” of the Latin radix, which “root (http://planetmath.org/NthRoot)”.

There is other terminology that is related to radicals: In the expression x3, x is the radicand and 3 is the index.

The index of a radical is usually an integer at least as large as two; however, if the index is two, it is usually not written. Moreover, if a radical does not have a written index, it is understood to be two, in which case the radical denotes a square root.

A radical expression is an expression that involves a radical.

One can use fractional powers instead of the radical symbol via xn=x1n. This practice of avoiding the radical symbol may be due to typesetting issues.

Title radical
Canonical name Radical12
Date of creation 2013-03-22 17:06:00
Last modified on 2013-03-22 17:06:00
Owner Wkbj79 (1863)
Last modified by Wkbj79 (1863)
Numerical id 22
Author Wkbj79 (1863)
Entry type Definition
Classification msc 30-00
Classification msc 12D99
Classification msc 00A05
Synonym radical symbol
Related topic Radical5
Related topic EvenEvenOddRule
Related topic NthRoot
Defines radicand
Defines index
Defines radical expression