surd

A now little-used term meaning the square root of a whole number that has an irrational value. Some examples are √2 (see square root of 2), √3, and √10.

A surd can often be simplified using the fact that √(ab) = √a × √b. For example, √12 = √(4 × 3) = √4 × √3 = 2√3.

Surds may be used to express some results in exact form, such as sin 60° = √3/2.

Related category

• TYPES OF NUMBERS

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