what is square root

A square root is a mathematical operation where you find two of the same numbers which multiply together to give the number you are square rooting.

Example 1:

The square root of 16 is 4 and -4 because 4x4 is 16 and -4x-4 is 16.

Because the square root of 16 is an integer (whole number), it is a square number. 9,49,25,36 are all examples of square numbers.

 

Example 2:

The square root of a non square number will be a decimal. The most noteable example of this is root 2, which is an irrational number (a number that does not terminate)

 

Example 3: 

The square root of a negative number is impossible to do normally because to get a negative number by multiplication requires a negative and a positive number, meaning that the 2 numbers are not equal so you can't have a negative square root. Normally. This is where the complex number i comes in. i^2 = -1. Using i allows you to get a answer for negative numbers.

root -16 = 4i

root -36 = 6i

A 'square root' is a number, which when multiplied times itself, will give you the original number.

The square root of  4  will be  2  because  2 x 2  =  4.

The square root of  81  will be  9  because  9 x 9  = 81.

Square roots don't have to be 'nice' numbers; for example the square root of  47  is: √47 = 6.8556546...

an irrational number, a number that can't be written as a common fraction and, when written as a decimal, has decimal digits that do not repeat and do not end.