What is the inverse of 12 squared?

Answer 1

The answer depends on what the inverse refers to.

• The additive inverse of 12 is -12 and so the square of the additive inverse of 12 is (-12)^2 = 144.
  
• The multiplicative inverse of 12 is 1/12 and so the square of the multiplicative inverse of 12 is (1/12)^2 = 1/144.
  
• The "square" function is many-to-one and so, strictly speaking, does not have an inverse. However, many ppoeple consider the [principal] square root as the inverse. In that case, the answer is 3.4641, approx.