Square Roots

## Square Roots

The inverse (opposite) operation for squaring is to square root. The square root symbol is shown with a symbol in front of the number being square rooted.

Determining the square root of a number means what number would I have to multiply by itself to get the number I started with? For example, what is sqrt(49)? Multiplying 7 x 7 = 49, so sqrt(49) = 7.

Note that a square root has two possible answers. A negative multiplied by a negative also gives a positive answer:

+2 x +2 = +4; and

-2 x -2 = +4.

The answer to sqrt(4) may be +2 or -2. Sometimes a negative answer can be ignored because it does not make sense.

Note: the square root of a negative number does not exist (except in very advanced mathematics).

## Example 1

What is sqrt(81)?

9 x 9 = 81, so sqrt(81) = 9.

-9 x -9 = +81, so sqrt(81) = -9 is also an answer.

Answer: 9 and -9

## Example 2

Calculate sqrt(frac(1)(4)). Show only the positive value.

frac(1)(2) x frac(1)(2) = frac(1)(4)

Answer: frac(1)(2)

See also Inverse Operations