Deriving the Difference Quotient for a Square Root Function

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Homework Statement



If P(x)=x^(1/2)
show that P(x+h)-P(x)=h/[(x+h)^(1/2)+ x^(1/2)]

Homework Equations





The Attempt at a Solution




pls help me. I don't have any idea of this...
 
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Try multiplying by:

\frac{\sqrt{x+h}+\sqrt{x}}{\sqrt{x+h}+\sqrt{x}}
 
Cyosis said:
Try multiplying by:

\frac{\sqrt{x+h}+\sqrt{x}}{\sqrt{x+h}+\sqrt{x}}

Will i going to substitute it on the x variable? I don't know where it needs to be multiplied.
 
"Multiply" doesn't mean substitute!

First form P(x+h) by replacing x with x+ h. Then subtract P(x) from that. That's what "P(x+h)- P(x)" means! Cyanosis is suggesting that you can get the final form you want by multiplying by
\frac{\sqrt{x+h}+\sqrt{x}}{\sqrt{x+h}+\sqrt{x}}
 
tnx for the explanation. :)
 
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
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