Something on the right of a radical
From Why start at x, y, z
A square root is often shown with a radical symbol: \( \sqrt{x} \). The top line is drawn as wide as it needs to be to cover the whole radicand:
\[ \sqrt{x^2 + 2x + 1} \]
But it can be easy to misinterpret an expression where there's something on the right of the radical:
\[ \sqrt{x^2 + 2x + 1}a \]
This is particularly problematic in handwriting.
The usual way of resolving this is to put the other thing on the left instead:
\[ a\sqrt{x^2+2x+1} \]
However, when the radical contains a single letter or number, it's more common to put the radical on the left:
\[ \sqrt{2} \sin x \]
