why a boot partition?
 

When i installed redhat9 it made three partitions for me, boot, root, and swap. Why do I need a boot partition, is their some advantage. I ask this because the boot partition just gets mounted on the root anyways? Am I missing something?

You should always have a /boot partition because it keeps all kernel related files (binaries) close to each other, thus reducing seek time (especially if you have a large HDD).
Also, it is possible to make the /boot partition read-only (including root).

The /boot partition does not get mounted on the root. It is an independent partition. /boot is a mount point, not the partition itself.
Take a look at your partition table.

You can also check the file /etc/fstab for further clarifications.

Use 'cat /etc/fstab' or ' man fstab' to help you further.

yes /boot is not a partition itself, it is a mount point, and keep all the linux kernel related file. you will need this in order your linux kernel will more easier to find it related file rather than seeking high and low in every place (partition)