How can one prove that the cube root of 9 is irrational? Of course, if you plug the cube root of 9 into a calculator, you get an endless stream of digits. However, how does one prove this on paper?

This is essentially the same proof I gave in my answer here.
Suppose $9^{\frac{1}{3}}$ is rational. Then $3^2n^3 = m^3$ for some natural numbers $n$ and $m$. On left side of the equation, the power of $3$ is of the form $3k + 2$ and on the right side it is of the form $3l$. This is a contradiction, because each integer greater than one has a unique prime factorization by the fundamental theorem of arithmetic. Thus $9^{\frac{1}{3}}$ is not rational.
This same proof also works for a more general case. Let $p$ be prime and $n \geq 2$ an integer. Then $\sqrt[n]{p^k}$ is irrational when $n$ does not divide $k$. Just like before, assuming that $\sqrt[n]{p^k}$ is rational leads to a situation where we have a number with two different prime factorizations. One factorization has $p$ of power divisible by $n$, while the other has $p$ of power not divisible by $n$.
