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Actually a negative number can be under a square root symbol.

This becomes very useful in electrical calculations. The square root of -1 is j.

That is, j2 = -1.

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Q: Could a negative number be under a square root symbol?
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If a negative number squared is positive why isn't the square root of a positive number negative?

Don't forget that a positive number squared is also positive.The rule has nothing to do with whether they're positive or negative. The rule is:When you multiply two numbers together, if their signs are the same then the product is positive.If their signs are different, then the product is negative.When you square a number, the two numbers you're multiplying are the same number,so their signs are always the same, and the product (the square) is always positive.Going the other way, you start with a positive number that's the product. Since it's positive,you know that the two numbers that were multiplied to get it have the same sign ... theycould both be positive, or they could both be negative.The answer to your question is more weird than you expected: The square root of a positive numberis negative. It's also positive. A positive number has two square roots ... the positive one andnegative one.Now, the square root of a negative number is something more difficult. No number squared can equal a negative except for what is called imaginary numbers, defined by "i". For example, the square root of -1 is i, and the square root of -2 is (√2)*i.


When you have a negative and positive in math does it become a negative?

It depends on what you do with the negative and positive. If you multiply or divide a positive number and a negative number, then the answer is negative. If you add or subtract a positive number and a negative number, the answer could be negative or positive depending on the numbers involved. If you put a negative sign in front of a positive number, the result is a negative number. If you put a positive sign in front of a negative number (like +(-7)), the result is still negative.


Why negative x is not a negative number?

It could be because x is already negative, and the product of two negative numbers is a positive one.


Does a negative number have any square roots?

Yes, they are numbers in the complex field.Look at it this way: You started to count with positive integers. But with only those numbers subtraction was limited. You could not take 3 from 2. The solution was to introduce negative numbers. That expanded the number system and what you could do with them.You learned to divide, but you could not divide 2 by 3. This time the solution was to introduce [rational] fractions. Again, the number system was expanded as was the range of and its power.You learned about square roots but even common numbers like 2 did not have a square root that was a rational number. So you introduced irrational numbers. Once again, the number system was expanded as was the range of and its power.The next hurdle was the square root of negative numbers. The solution was to introduce complex numbers. And once again ... you guessed!The introduction of each additional set of number comes as you get into more complicated areas of the subject. In the UK you will not come across complex numbers until you study further mathematics at A level.The square roots of -9, for example, are ±3iwhere i denotes the square root of -1.


How do you get the square root symbol on a keyboard?

There is no single square root button on a keyboard. You can sometimes get the square root symbol by holding down alt and pressing 2 then 5 then 1 (or alt + 251). If that doesn't work, you could copy and paste it. √ (that square root sign is from pressing alt + 251)

Related questions

Why is there no solution to the square root of -169?

The answer is an imaginary number, because of the negative under the square root. The same number multiplied together will always be a positive number. For example, if you square negative one, the answer is positive one, because a negative times a negative is a positive. Because a square root undoes a square, there is no solution to the square root of a negative number. That's why your calculator could not compute this problem. However, there is a way to solve these types of problems by using imaginary numbers. The answer is 13i, where i is the square root of negative one.


Does a square root need to be a whole number?

No, it does not; it could be a fraction (or, what amounts to the same thing, a repeating decimal), a negative number (in fact every strictly positive number has 2 square roots, one positive, one negative, such as the square roots of 25 are 5 and -5), an irrational number (like the square root of 2), or an imaginary number (like the square root of -49).


What is the square root of 4x-8x plus 9?

4x-8x = -4x √-4x stands. However, x could not possibly be a positive number, because: (Negative) X (Positive) = (Negative) The square root of a negative number is undefined-so... (√-4x) + 9 Is your answer.


What number multiplied by itself is equal to 127.38?

That would be its square root, or 11.286..; it could be positive or negative


If the square root of a rational number X was divided by another rational number Y and the result would be undefined what could be the possible values of X and Y?

probably x would be negative. This is because the square root of a negative number is not a real number (no real number squared can be negative). ory is 0. any number divided by 0 = infinity. and undefined is another way of saying infinity.


When you add a positive and a negative what does it become?

the answer could be negative or positive depending on whether the negative number you're adding is bigger than the positive number


When a negative number is cubed is it negative or a positive number?

I think that it's a negative number, as a negative times a negative is a positive, and a positive times a negative is a negative, but I could be wrong. (DUN-DUN--DUUUUUN...)


Why is the square root of a negative number imaginary?

Any real number, when squared will give a positive real number. This is true weather you have a negative real number and square it, or positive. The concept of imaginary numbers was invented to handle equations which needed to use the square root of a negative number, in order to solve them.At first, they were not considered useful beyond this, so they were named imaginary numbers. Through the work of Euler and others, it became evident that imaginary and complex numbers could be useful, especially when analyzing waves, such as electrical waveforms.


Are fractions real numbers?

Yes. A real number is any number that could be plotted on a number line. For example, 3/4 could be plotted on a number line, and so it is real. Only square roots of negative numbers are not real: they are called imaginary.


is a negative number minus a number still a negative number?

Yes if the number you are taking away is positive, it will always be a negative number answer. If the number you are taking away is also negative the answer could be either positive or negative, dependant upon the number's used.


Can numbers that are not square have square roots?

Yes and no. It depends on your definition of square root. By the actual one, yes. All non-negative numbers have a square root. That square root might be irrational but it has a square root, nonetheless. 10 isn't a square number because there's no integer that can be squared to make ten but 10 definitely has a square root: 3.16227766....... If by square root you mean an integer square root, then no. If a number has an integer as its square root then you could square that integer to get the number, making it a square number.


What is the symbol for any number?

When a symbol is used for a number it could be any symbol at all. It could be a letter from the Roman or Greek alphabet, upper case or lower case. It could also be any random symbol that you like provided that it is not a "reserved" symbol. By that I mean you cannot use "+" as a symbol since that might be very confusing!