Lesson 6

Lesson 6: Solving Radical Equations

 

Focus

 

Have you ever come upon the scene of a traffic collision? Did you notice the skid marks? Perhaps you saw a police officer or crash investigator measuring the skid marks on the roadway. Why is it important to measure the skid marks at the site of a collision?

 

Crash team investigators measure the length of skid marks to calculate the speed of the vehicle when the brakes were first applied. Radical equations, such as and are used in their calculations. The calculations from these formulas are so accurate that the results are used as evidence if there is a court case regarding the traffic collision.

 

In this lesson you will learn to solve equations such as these that contain radicals. The first five lessons in this module have been preparation for this essential mathematical skill.

 

This lesson will help you answer the following inquiry questions:

• How do you determine the solutions (also known as roots) to a radical equation algebraically?
  
  
• How do you verify that the values determined in solving a radical equation are not extraneous roots of the equation?

Assessment

• Lesson 6 Assignment

All assessment items you encounter need to be placed in your course folder.

 

Save a copy of the Lesson 6 Assignment to your course folder. You will receive more information about how to complete the assignment later in this lesson.

 

 

Materials and Equipment

• calculator