Final answer:
A negative number does not have a real square root, but we can express its square root using an imaginary number.
Step-by-step explanation:
The square root of a negative number is not a real number. This is because when we square any real number, the result is always positive or zero. For example, if we square 4, we get 16, and if we square -4, we also get 16.
Therefore, when we talk about the square root of a number, we are looking for a number that, when squared, gives us the original number. A negative number cannot satisfy this condition, so it does not have a real square root.
However, we can work with square roots of negative numbers by introducing the concept of imaginary numbers. Imaginary numbers are represented by the symbol 'i', where 'i' is defined as the square root of -1. So, while a negative number does not have a real square root, we can express its square root using an imaginary number.