Square roots come back in simplest radical form instead of as a decimal that trails off. √72 becomes 6√2, which is the form the answer key wants.
By Sumarth Mehta. Original release page
How to install it
- Download the program with the button above. You'll get a .tns file, the file type TI-Nspire calculators use.
- Open nspireconnect.ti.com in Chrome on a computer or Chromebook, and plug your calculator in with its charging cable.
- Choose File Transfer, then To Calculator, then From Computer, and pick the .tns file you just downloaded.
- When it lands, the calculator shows a prompt. Choose Open to jump straight into it.
It sits in My Documents afterwards, so you can reopen it any time.
TI's web app only supports the CX II and CX II CAS. If you have an original CX, or you already use the TI-Nspire Student Software, sending the file through that works the same.
Running it
Open the document, go to its calculator page, and use the radsimp command. The author's own example is radsimp(1/2, 16/18), giving (√2)/3: the first value is the number multiplying the root, the second is what sits under it.
It clears the denominator too
Rationalizing the denominator is a separate step you would normally do by hand after simplifying, and forgetting it is how a correct answer still loses marks. This returns the finished form with nothing irrational left underneath. Fractions go in as well as whole numbers, so a messy coefficient does not send you back to paper first.