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27 votes
Why is the square root of (-5)^2 25 but the square root of -5^2 is -25? ‍

User Damiano Stoffie
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1 Answer

23 votes
23 votes

Explanation:

So, we call 5 the “square root” of 25 and write √25=5 because 52=25 . ... Since (−5)2 also equals 25 it is also a “square root” of 25 , but we write −√25=−5 because it is not the principal square root. Not all whole numbers have a whole number square root. For instance √2=1.414213562…

User Bob Albright
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