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What is the square root of a negative number

User Krackmoe
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2 Answers

6 votes

It depends, but this is how I would do it:

Let's take the square root of -8 -->
āˆš(-8)

First, I would take out an "i" and put it outside of the square root:


iāˆš(8)

The i represents the negative sign. Then, I would treat the square root of 8 as a normal problem and simplify by factoring it:

Factors of 8: 2,2,2

Because you're looking for a square root and you can "loop" two 2s together, you can take one set out:


2iāˆš(2) would be your final answer.

Hope I helped :)

3 votes

Answer:

Negative numbers don't have real square roots since a square is either positive or 0.

Step-by-step explanation:

Negative numbers don't have real square roots since a square is either positive or 0.

User Jeremiah
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