Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and beginning April 20th, 2021 (Eastern Time) the Yahoo Answers website will be in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.

binomial square within a square root equals an absolute binomial (number)?

√4x^2+12x+9

√(2x+3)^2

= 2x+3

Answer supposed to be |2x+3| (?)

The square root and the square within cancel out dont they?

Why the absolute value?

Thanks for help

3 Answers

Relevance
  • 9 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    A square root can be either positive or negative.

    So, for instance, √9 can be either +3 or -3, and this is commonly written as ±3, but can also be expressed as |3|, which also means it can be either positive or negative.

    However, if you see √x without any further indication, it is taken to mean the positive root. It must be made clear if the negative root is intended. In solving some real-life problems which require a quadratic equation, it is clear from the statement of the problem whether the correct answer is the positive or the negative one.

    So although (2x + 3) is a perfectly good solution for √(2x+3)² (in fact it is the only one, given that you commence with (2x + 3) inside the root), the complete solution for √(2x+3)² is ±(2x + 3), or |(2x + 3)|.

  • ?
    Lv 6
    9 years ago

    Square root is always positive.

    For example, let x = -2 ---> 2(-2) + 3 = -1

    4(-2)^2 + 12(-2) + 9 = 16 - 24 + 9 = 1

    ============================================================================

    Simplest example of root(x^2) = absvalue(x)

    Let x = -3, x^2 = 9, root(x^2) = root(9) = 3 which is the absolute value of -3. Always works this way. When you see root(x^2), think absvalue(x)

  • the absolute value entails both negative and positive value.

    |a| = |-a| = a

    the square root of a number is both positive and negative. eg.

    (2)^2 = 4

    (-2)^2 = 4

    so √4 = 4 or -4.

    with the absolute value, we only consider the magnitude of the number

Still have questions? Get your answers by asking now.