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# Square root

(Redirected from Root (mathematics))
Square roots of negative numbers are not real numbers – they are imaginary numbers. Imaginary numbers are basically numbers that cannot be square rooted and get a real result. Every complex number except 0 has 2 square roots. For example: −1 has two square roots. We call them $i$ and $-i$.
The sign for a square root is made by putting a bent line over a number, like this: $\sqrt 4$. We say "the square root of 4" (or whatever number we are taking the square root of).
It is not really known where the square root symbol $\sqrt{\,\,}$ comes from, but some people believe that it was from the letter r, which is the first letter of the Latin and German word radix. Radix means root or base. Thus, radix quadratum from Latin refer most likely to the base of a square. As the sides of a square are all equal, the word radix may be interpreted as side of a square, even not literally meaning that.