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The square of any real number is non-negative. So there is no number whose square is negative. But there are times when it is mathematically helpful to be able to take the square root of a negative number. This is where i comes to the rescue.

i is a number such that i2 = -1.

Then, if you want to find the square root of -4, for example,

-4 = 4*(-1)

So that sqrt(-4) = sqrt[4*(-1)] = sqrt(4)*sqrt(-1) = +/- 2*i

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