What is the following quotient?

[tex]\[
\frac{2}{\sqrt{13}+\sqrt{11}}
\][/tex]

A. [tex]\(\sqrt{13} - 2 \sqrt{11}\)[/tex]

B. [tex]\(\frac{\sqrt{13} + \sqrt{11}}{6}\)[/tex]

C. [tex]\(\frac{\sqrt{13} + \sqrt{11}}{12}\)[/tex]

D. [tex]\(\sqrt{13} - \sqrt{11}\)[/tex]



Answer :

To solve for the quotient
[tex]$ \frac{2}{\sqrt{13}+\sqrt{11}}, $[/tex]
we will rationalize the denominator, which involves a series of steps to eliminate the square roots in the denominator.

Step 1: Identify the initial fraction:
[tex]$ \frac{2}{\sqrt{13}+\sqrt{11}}. $[/tex]

Step 2: Multiply the numerator and the denominator by the conjugate of the denominator to rationalize it. The conjugate of [tex]\(\sqrt{13}+\sqrt{11}\)[/tex] is [tex]\(\sqrt{13}-\sqrt{11}\)[/tex]. Thus, we multiply by:
[tex]$ \frac{\sqrt{13}-\sqrt{11}}{\sqrt{13}-\sqrt{11}}. $[/tex]

Step 3: Write the expression after multiplication:
[tex]$ \frac{2 \cdot (\sqrt{13}-\sqrt{11})}{(\sqrt{13}+\sqrt{11}) \cdot (\sqrt{13}-\sqrt{11})}. $[/tex]

Step 4: Simplify the denominator using the difference of squares formula, [tex]\((a+b)(a-b) = a^2 - b^2\)[/tex]:
[tex]$ (\sqrt{13})^2 - (\sqrt{11})^2 = 13 - 11 = 2. $[/tex]

Step 5: The numerator simplifies to:
[tex]$ 2 \cdot (\sqrt{13} - \sqrt{11}). $[/tex]

Step 6: Incorporate the simplified denominator:
[tex]$ \frac{2 (\sqrt{13} - \sqrt{11})}{2}. $[/tex]

Step 7: Simplify the fraction by canceling out the common factor of 2 in the numerator and denominator:
[tex]$ \sqrt{13} - \sqrt{11}. $[/tex]

Thus, the quotient is
[tex]$ \sqrt{13} - \sqrt{11}. $[/tex]

Other Questions