Unit 6.2 Radical Expressions and Fractional Exponents
Fractional Exponents
(see unit 5.1 for a refresher on exponents)
Fractional exponents are another way to represent roots. The general form of a fractional exponent is
Where m is the exponent and n is the root
Converting to fractional exponent notation
[latex]\sqrt{16} = 16^{\frac{1}{2}} = 4[/latex]
Converting to root notation
[latex]8^{\frac{2}{3}} = \sqrt[3]{8^2} = \sqrt[3]{64} = 4[/latex]