High School

Which choice is equivalent to the expression below?

[tex]\sqrt{32} - \sqrt{2}[/tex]

A. [tex]3 \sqrt{2}[/tex]

B. [tex]\sqrt{30}[/tex]

C. 4

D. [tex]16 \sqrt{2}[/tex]

Answer :

To solve the expression [tex]\(\sqrt{32} - \sqrt{2}\)[/tex], we'll start by simplifying each of the square roots.

1. Simplify [tex]\(\sqrt{32}\)[/tex]:

- Notice that 32 can be expressed as the product of 16 and 2:
[tex]\[
\sqrt{32} = \sqrt{16 \times 2}
\][/tex]
- We can simplify this by taking the square root of 16 (since 16 is a perfect square):
[tex]\[
\sqrt{32} = \sqrt{16} \times \sqrt{2} = 4 \times \sqrt{2}
\][/tex]

2. Rewrite the original expression:

With [tex]\(\sqrt{32}\)[/tex] simplified, our expression becomes:
[tex]\[
4\sqrt{2} - \sqrt{2}
\][/tex]

3. Subtract the square root terms:

Both terms contain [tex]\(\sqrt{2}\)[/tex]. We can factor out [tex]\(\sqrt{2}\)[/tex]:
[tex]\[
(4\sqrt{2} - \sqrt{2}) = (4 - 1)\sqrt{2} = 3\sqrt{2}
\][/tex]

Therefore, the expression [tex]\(\sqrt{32} - \sqrt{2}\)[/tex] simplifies to [tex]\(3\sqrt{2}\)[/tex].

So, the correct answer is A. [tex]\(3 \sqrt{2}\)[/tex].