<s>[INST] Is $a\sqrt[3]{2} + b\sqrt[3]{4}$ irrational? I need to prove that $$ a\sqrt[3]{2} + b\sqrt[3]{4}$$ is irrational, while $a$,$b $  are non zero  rationals.
I know that $\sqrt[3]{2} + \sqrt[3]{4}$ is irrational and I also know how to prove it, but I can't think of any reasonable implication that would state: $a\sqrt[3]{2} + b\sqrt[3]{4}$ is rational $\implies$ $\sqrt[3]{2} + \sqrt[3]{4}$ is rational, so I could show it is a contradiction.
 [/INST] Assume $a\sqrt[3]2+b\sqrt[3]4$ is rational. This gives that $$
(a\sqrt[3]2+b\sqrt[3]4)^2=2b^2\sqrt[3]2+a^2\sqrt[3]4+4ab
$$is also rational. Subtracting $4ab$ doesn't change rationality. This means that
$$
a(2b^2\sqrt[3]2+a^2\sqrt[3]4)-2b^2(a\sqrt[3]2+b\sqrt[3]4)=(a^3-2b^3)\sqrt[3]4
$$
is rational. But $\sqrt[3]4$ is irrational, so that can only be true if $a^3=2b^3$, which, under the assumption that $b\neq0$, implies that $\frac ab=\sqrt[3]2$ is rational. This is clearly a contradiction, and we are done.
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