Adding surds

We can only add surds that have the same surd part (the part under the root).

When adding surds with the same surd part, we simply add the coefficients (the numbers in front of the surd).

flashcards

Question	Answer
We can only add surds with the same surd part	The part under the root must be identical for the surds to be combined.
When adding surds with the same surd part, we add the coefficients	Add the numbers in front of the surd, keeping the surd part unchanged.
Simplify 3\sqrt{2}+5\sqrt{2}	(3+5)\sqrt{2}=8\sqrt{2}
Simplify 7\sqrt{3}-2\sqrt{3}	(7-2)\sqrt{3}=5\sqrt{3}