7-3 Rational Exponents

Write each expression in radical form, or write each radical in exponential form.
1.

SOLUTION:

2.

SOLUTION:

3.

SOLUTION:

4.

SOLUTION:

Simplify.

5.

SOLUTION:

6.

SOLUTION:

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7.

SOLUTION:

8.

SOLUTION:

9.

SOLUTION:

10.

SOLUTION:

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11.

SOLUTION:

12.

SOLUTION:

Solve each equation.

13.

SOLUTION:

Therefore, the solution is 4.

14.

SOLUTION:

Therefore, the solution is 1.

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15.

SOLUTION:

Therefore, the solution is 5.5.

16. TOOLS A weir is used to measure water flow in a channel.

For a rectangular broad-crested weir, the flow Q in cubic feet per second is related to the weir length L in feet and

height H of the water by . Find the water height for a weir that is 3 feet long and has flow of 38.4
cubic feet per second.

SOLUTION:

Therefore, the water height for the weir is 4 feet.

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7-3 Rational Exponents

Write each expression in radical form, or write each radical in exponential form.
17.

SOLUTION:

18.

SOLUTION:

19.

SOLUTION:

20.

SOLUTION:

21.

SOLUTION:

22.

SOLUTION:

23.

SOLUTION:

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24.

SOLUTION:

Simplify.

25.

SOLUTION:

26.

SOLUTION:

27.

SOLUTION:

28.

SOLUTION:

29.

SOLUTION:

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30.

SOLUTION:

31.

SOLUTION:

32.

SOLUTION:

33.

SOLUTION:

34.

SOLUTION:

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35.

SOLUTION:

36.

SOLUTION:

37.

SOLUTION:

38.

SOLUTION:

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39.

SOLUTION:

40.

SOLUTION:

41.

SOLUTION:

42.

SOLUTION:

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43.

SOLUTION:

44.

SOLUTION:

Solve each equation.

45.

SOLUTION:

Therefore, the solution is 5.

46.

SOLUTION:

Therefore, the solution is 2.

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47.

SOLUTION:

Therefore, the solution is .

48.

SOLUTION:

Therefore, the solution is .

49.

SOLUTION:

Therefore, the solution is .

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50.

SOLUTION:

Therefore, the solution is .

51.

SOLUTION:

Therefore, the solution is 8.

52.

SOLUTION:

Therefore, the solution is 2.

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53.

SOLUTION:

Therefore, the solution is 8.

54.

SOLUTION:

Therefore, the solution is .

55.

SOLUTION:

Therefore, the solution is .

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56.

SOLUTION:

Therefore, the solution is .

57. CONSERVATION Water collected in a rain barrel can be used to water plants and reduce city water use. Water
flowing from an open rain barrel has velocity , where v is in feet per second and h is the height of the
water in feet. Find the height of the water if it is flowing at 16 feet per second.

SOLUTION:

The height of the water is 4 feet.

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58. ELECTRICITY The radius r in millimeters of a platinum wire L centimeters long with resistance 0.1 ohm is
.

How long is a wire with radius 0.236 millimeter?

SOLUTION:

So, the wire has a length of 16 centimeters.

Write each expression in radical form, or write each radical in exponential form.
59.

SOLUTION:

60.

SOLUTION:

61.

SOLUTION:

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62.

SOLUTION:

63.

SOLUTION:

64.

SOLUTION:

65.

SOLUTION:

66.

SOLUTION:

Simplify.

67.

SOLUTION:

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68.

SOLUTION:

69.

SOLUTION:

70.

SOLUTION:

71.

SOLUTION:

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72.

SOLUTION:

73.

SOLUTION:

74.

SOLUTION:

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75.

SOLUTION:

76.

SOLUTION:

77.

SOLUTION:

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78.

SOLUTION:

Solve each equation.

79.

SOLUTION:

Therefore, the solution is 12.

80.

SOLUTION:

Therefore, the solution is 3.

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81.

SOLUTION:

Therefore, the solution is –5.

82.

SOLUTION:

Therefore, the solution is .

83.

SOLUTION:

Therefore, the solution is .

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84.

SOLUTION:

Therefore, the solution is 11.

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85. MODELING The frequency f in hertz of the nth key on a piano is .

a. What is the frequency of Concert A?

b. Which note has a frequency of 220 Hz?

SOLUTION:
a. Replace n with 49 in the equation to determine the frequency of Concert A.

So, the frequency of Concert A is 440 hertz.

b. Replace f with 220 in the equation to determine the value of n.

So, the note with a frequency of 220 corresponds to the 37th note on the piano or the A below middle C.

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86. RANDOM WALKS Suppose you go on a walk where you choose the direction of each step at random. The path
of a molecule in a liquid or a gas, the path of a foraging animal, and a fluctuating stock price are all modeled as
random walks. The number of possible random walks w of n steps where you choose one of d directions at each
step is .

a. How many steps have been taken in a 2-direction random walk if there are 4096 possible walks?
b. How many steps have been taken in a 4-direction random walk if there are 65,536 possible walks?
c. If a walk of 7 steps has 2187 possible walks, how many directions could be taken at each step?

SOLUTION:
a. Replace w with 4096 and d with 2 in the equation to determine the value of n.

So, in a 2-direction random walk having 4096 possible walks there have been 12 steps taken.

b. Replace w with 65,536 and d with 4 in the equation to determine the value of n.

So, in a 4-direction random walk having 65,536 possible walks there have been 8 steps taken.

c. Replace n with 7 and w with 2187 in the equation to determine the value of d.

So, in 2187 possible walks of 7 steps there could be 3 directions taken at each step.

87. SOCCER The radius r of a ball that holds V cubic units of air is modeled by .

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What are the possible volumes of each size soccer ball?

SOLUTION:
Size 3: d = 7.3 in.. r = 3.65

Size 3: d= 7.6 in., r = 3.8

Size 4: d = 8.0 in.. r = 4.0

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Size 4: d= 8.3 in., r = 4.15

Size 5: d = 8.6 in.. r = 4.3

Size 5: d= 9.0 in., r = 4.5

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Volume of size 3 soccer balls vary from 204.0 to 230.2 cubic inches. Volume of size 4 soccer balls vary from 268.5
to 299.9 cubic inches. Volume of size 5 soccer balls vary from 333.6 to 382.4 cubic inches.

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88. MULTIPLE REPRESENTATIONS In this problem, you will explore the graph of an exponential function.
a. TABULAR Copy and complete the table below.

b. GRAPHICAL Graph f(x) by plotting the points and connecting them with a smooth curve.
c. VERBAL Describe the shape of the graph of f(x). What are its key features? Is it linear?

SOLUTION:
a.

b.

c. The graph of f(x) = 4x is a curve. It has no x-intercept, a y-intercept of 1, the domain is all real numbers, the range
is all positive real numbers, it is increasing over the entire domain, as x approaches infinity f(x) approaches infinity, as
x approaches negative infinity f(x) approaches 0. The graph is not linear.

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89. OPEN-ENDED Write two different expressions with rational exponents equal to .

SOLUTION:
Sample answer:

First:

Second:

Thus can be represented by and .

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90. CONSTRUCT ARGUMENTS Determine whether each statement is always, sometimes, or never true.
Assume that x is a nonnegative real number. Explain your reasoning.

a.
b.
c.

d.

e.
f.

SOLUTION:

a. Sometimes is true. It is only true when x = 1.

b. Sometimes is true. It is only true when x = 1.

c. Sometimes is true. It is only true when x = 1.

d. is always true by definition of .

e. is always true since = = x1 or x.

f. Sometimes is true. It is only true when x = 1.

91. CHALLENGE For what values of x is ?

SOLUTION:

Thus, the expressions will be equal for x = –1, 0, 1.

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92. ERROR ANALYSIS Anna and Jamal are solving . Is either of them correct?
Explain your reasoning.

SOLUTION:

Anna is correct. Jamal did not write the expressions with equal bases before applying the Power Property of
Equality.

93. WRITING IN MATH Explain why 2 is the principal fourth root of 16.

SOLUTION:
Sample answer: 2 is the principal fourth root of 16 because 2 is positive and 24 = 16.

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94. What is the solution of the equation ?

A
B
C2
D

SOLUTION:

This means that

So, choice A is the correct answer.

95. What is written in exponential form?

A
B
C
D

SOLUTION:

So, choice C is the correct answer.

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96. If , what is the value of j? Select all that apply.

A2
B 25
C 32
D 325

SOLUTION:

So, choices B and C are correct.

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97. MULTI-STEP To simulate gravity, space crafts rotate to create artificial gravity through centripetal force. The

formula is used to find the time in seconds to complete one rotation in order to create a specific gravity, g,

for a space craft of radius r meters.

a. How long does it take a space craft with a radius of 80 meters to complete one rotation in order to simulate
Earth’s gravity of 9.8 m/s2?
b. What is the gravity created by a space craft completing one rotation every 20 seconds with a radius of 90 meters?

SOLUTION:
a.

b.

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98. What is the solution of the equation ?

A3
B5
C8
D 10

SOLUTION:

This means that

So, choice C is the correct answer.

99. Which expression is equivalent to ?

A
B
C
D (3x)2

SOLUTION:

, so .
Therefore, the correct choice is B.

100. Which number is equivalent to ?

A4
B8
C 16
D 512

SOLUTION:

The correct choice is D.

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101. What is the solution of the equation 16x+2 = 212 ?

A1
B3
C4
D 10

SOLUTION:

The correct choice is A.

102. Which expression is equivalent to ?

A (24n)2
B 24n 2
C

SOLUTION:

For any positive real number b and any integer n > 1, .

So, the correct choice is D.

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