An equation that contains roots involving variables, such as
, is called a radical equation. The main goal in solving them is to get rid of roots and to convert the radical equation to some simple, known equation. Care must be taken to avoid absurd solutions that either have a negative number under the root, or equate the root to a negative number. Remember,square root only can have non-negative argument and square roots are always non negative as well.
This topic is closely related to the concept of
domains from the functions module that I have on algebra.com.
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