Square root

2016-02-02T09:33:43Z

37.139.156.40: oh, I thought sentence was mentioning complex numbers.

A '''square root''' of a number is a number that, when it is multiplied by itself (squared), gives the first number again. For example, 2 is the square root of 4, because 2×2=4. Only numbers bigger than or equal to zero have real square roots. A number bigger than zero has two square roots: one is [[positive number|positive]] (bigger than zero) and the other is [[negative number|negative]] (smaller than zero). For example, 4 has two square roots: 2 and −2. The only square root of zero is zero.

Square roots of negative numbers are not [[real number]]s – they are [[imaginary numbers]]. Imaginary numbers are basically numbers that cannot be square rooted and get a real result. Every [[complex number]] except 0 has 2 square roots. For example: −1 has two square roots. We call them <math>i</math> and <math>-i</math>.

The sign for a square root is made by putting a bent line over a number, like this: <math>\sqrt 4</math>. We say "the square root of 4" (or whatever number we are taking the square root of).

A [[whole number]] with a square root that is also a whole number is called a [[square number|perfect square]]. The first few perfect squares are: 0, 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 100, 121, 144, 169, 196, 225, 256, 289, 324, 361, 400, 441, 484, 529, 576, 625, 676, 729, 784, 841, 900, 961, 1024, 1089, 1156, 1225...

== Origin of the symbol ==
It is not really known where the square root symbol <math>\sqrt{\,\,}</math> comes from, but some people believe that it was from the [[letter]] ''r'', which is the first letter of the [[Latin]] and [[German language|German]] word ''radix''. Radix means root or base. Thus, radix quadratum from Latin refer most likely to the base of a square. As the sides of a square are all equal, the word radix may be interpreted as side of a square, even not literally meaning that.

[[Category:Mathematics]]

{{math-stub}}

TCS Wiki - User contributions [en]

Square root