x^2 = 16/100 We must solve for x by taking the square root of both sides. But imagine x^2 = 9. x = 3 is a solution because 3^2 = 9. But x = -3 is also a solution because (-3)^2 = 9. So we need to add the plus and minus sign to account for all of our solutions. √x^2 = √(16/100) We square root both sides to remove the exponent 2 on x. Then x = ±√(16/100) Then we have to use a Property of Radicals which is √(x/y) = √(x) / √(y). Then the square root of 16 is 4 and the square root of 100 is 10. 4/10 is 2/5 simplified.