1. The problem is to simplify a radical expression, which means rewriting it in the simplest form without a radical in the denominator or with the smallest possible radicand. 2. The general rule for simplifying radicals is to factor the number inside the radical into its prime factors and then pair the factors to take them out of the radical. 3. For example, to simplify $\sqrt{50}$: $$\sqrt{50} = \sqrt{25 \times 2}$$ 4. Since $25$ is a perfect square, we can take it out of the radical: $$\sqrt{25 \times 2} = \sqrt{25} \times \sqrt{2} = 5\sqrt{2}$$ 5. Therefore, the simplified form of $\sqrt{50}$ is $5\sqrt{2}$. This method applies to any radical expression you want to simplify by factoring and extracting perfect squares.