No one can argue with the following equation:

√10 - 3 = √10 - 3

Add three lines to the right-hand side of the equation so that both sides are still equal.

I don't know how to format it so it will look right, but the idea is simple: Just add three "1"'s as exponents, either have one attached to "√10" and two attached to "3", or two attached to "√10" and one to "3", or all three attached to "√10", or all three attached to "3". Consider the first possibility. We can eliminate the need for parentheses by writing the second "1" attached to "√10" higher than the first one. Then, in words, the right-hand side would read "The square root of ten, raised to the power one, raised to the power one (again), minus three raised to the power one. Similar comments apply to the other three possibilities.

Posted by RoyCook on 2003-10-07 10:51:05