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title: Intro to Rationalizing the Denominator
---
## Intro to Rationalizing the Denominator

If you can't express the denominator of a fraction in the form of a/b, where a and b are integers, then the denominator is irrational. To simplify the fraction we should rationalize the denominator. Rationalizing the denominator can aid you in solving certain equations. There are a couple ways to do this.

### Multiplying by a Root
We can multiply the top and bottom by a root. Notice that we are multiplying the fraction by root 2 divided by itself which is just another way or writing 1.  
 
<img src="https://github.com/codersc/freeCodeCamp-article-images/blob/master/art4img1.png?raw=true">

### Multiplying by a Conjugate
We can also multiply the top and bottom by the conjugate.
 
<img src="https://github.com/codersc/freeCodeCamp-article-images/blob/master/art4img2.png?raw=true">
 
<img src="https://github.com/codersc/freeCodeCamp-article-images/blob/master/art4img3.png?raw=true">