[tex]12 ^{ \frac{5}{2} } [/tex]. When you have a number raised to a power that is rational (a fraction), the denominator is called the index and that's the little number that will sit in the crook of the arm of the radical sign. The numerator is the power on the base (12) that is inside the radical. Our index is 2, so we have a plain old square root. And 12 is raised to the 5th power under that square root sign. Like this: [tex] \sqrt{12 ^{5} } [/tex]. Just to show you where the index goes, I will rewrite that like this: [tex] \sqrt[2]{12 ^{5} } [/tex]
