square root

(noun)

A root of degree 2, written in the form $\sqrt{a}$.

Related Terms

  • cube root
  • radical expression
  • root

Examples of square root in the following topics:

  • Radical Functions

    • An expression with roots is called a radical function, there are many kinds of roots, square root and cube root being the most common.
    • If fourth root of 2401 is 7, and the square root of 2401 is 49, then what is the third root of 2401?
    • If the square root of a number is taken, the result is a number which when squared gives the first number.
    • Roots do not have to be square.
    • However, using a calculator can approximate the square root of a non-square number:$\sqrt {3} = 1.73205080757$
  • Imaginary Numbers

    • There is no such value such that when squared it results in a negative value; we therefore classify roots of negative numbers as "imaginary."
    • A radical expression represents the root of a given quantity.
    • When the radicand (the value under the radical sign) is negative, the root of that value is said to be an imaginary number.
    • Specifically, the imaginary number, $i$, is defined as the square root of -1: thus, $i=\sqrt{-1}$.
    • We can write the square root of any negative number in terms of $i$.
  • Radical Equations

    • When solving equations that involve radicals, begin by asking: is there an x under the square root?
    • If there is an $x$, or variable, under the square root, the problem must be approached differently.
    • Square both sides of the equation if the radical is a square root; Cube both sides if the radical is a cube root.
    • To undo the radical symbol (square root), square both sides of the equation.
    • $(\sqrt{6x-2})^2=(10)^2$,  squaring a square root leaves the expression under the square root symbol and $10$ squared is $100$
  • Solving Problems with Radicals

    • Roots are written using a radical sign, and a number denoting which root to solve for.
    • When none is given, it is an implied square root.
    • Roots are written using a radical sign.
    • If there is no denotation, it is implied that you are finding the square root.
    • Otherwise, a number will appear denoting which root to solve for.
  • The Discriminant

    • The discriminant $\Delta =b^2-4ac$ is the portion of the quadratic formula under the square root.
    • If ${\Delta}$ is positive, the square root in the quadratic formula is positive, and the solutions do not involve imaginary numbers.
    • If ${\Delta}$ is equal to zero, the square root in the quadratic formula is zero:
    • If ${\Delta}$ is less than zero, the value under the square root in the quadratic formula is negative:
    • This means the square root itself is an imaginary number, so the roots of the quadratic function are distinct and not real.
  • Introduction to Radicals

    • Roots are the inverse operation of exponentiation.
    • For example, the following is a radical expression that reverses the above solution, working backwards from 49 to its square root:
    • For now, it is important simplify to recognize the relationship between roots and exponents: if a root $r$ is defined as the $n \text{th}$ root of $x$, it is represented as
    • If the square root of a number $x$ is calculated, the result is a number that when squared (i.e., when raised to an exponent of 2) gives the original number $x$.
    • This is read as "the square root of 36" or "radical 36."
  • Simplifying Radical Expressions

    • where $n$ is the degree of the root.
    • A root of degree 2 is called a square root and a root of degree 3, a cube root.
    • Roots of higher degrees are referred to using ordinal numbers, as in fourth root, twentieth root, etc.
    • First, look for a perfect square under the square root sign and remove it:
    • First, notice that there is a perfect square under the square root symbol, and pull that out: $\frac{\sqrt{16}\sqrt{x^7}}{\sqrt[4]{x^2}} = \frac{4 \cdot \sqrt{x^7}}{\sqrt[4]{x^2}} = 4 \cdot \frac{\sqrt{x^7}}{\sqrt[4]{x^2}}$
  • Factoring Perfect Square Trinomials

    • When a trinomial is a perfect square, it can be factored into two equal binomials.
    • Note that if a binomial of the form $a+b$ is squared, the result has the following form: $(a+b)^2=(a+b)(a+b)=a^2+2ab+b^2.$ So both the first and last term are squares, and the middle term has factors of $2, $ $a$, and $b,$ where the latter are the square roots of the first and last term respectively.
    • For example, if the expression $2x+3$ were squared, we would obtain $(2x+3)(2x+3)=4x^2+12x+9.$ Note that the first term $4x^2$ is the square of $2x$ while the last term $9$ is the square of $3$, while the middle term is twice $2x\cdot3$.
    • Suppose you were trying to factor $x^2+8x+16.$ One can see that the first term is the square of $x$ while the last term is the square of $4$.
    • Since the first term is $3x$ squared, the last term is one squared, and the middle term is twice $3x\cdot 1$, this is a perfect square, and we can write:
  • Completing the Square

    • The method of completing the square allows for the conversion to the form:
    • Once completing the square has been performed, the quadratic is easy to solve; because there is only one place where the variable $x$ is squared, the $(x-h)^2$ term can be isolated on one side of the equation, and then the square root of both sides can be taken.
    • This quadratic is not a perfect square.  
    • The closest perfect square is the square of $5$, which was determined by dividing the $b$ term (in this case $10$) by two and producing the square of the result.
    • Solve for the zeros of a quadratic function by completing the square
  • Factoring a Difference of Squares

    • When a quadratic is a difference of squares, there is a helpful formula for factoring it.
    • Taking the square root of both sides of the equation gives the answer $x = \pm a$.
    • Using the difference of squares is just another way to think about solving the equation.
    • If you recognize the first term as the square of $x$ and the term after the minus sign as the square of $4$, you can then factor the expression as:
    • If we recognize the first term as the square of $4x^2$ and the term after the minus sign as the square of $3$, we can rewrite the equation as:
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