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Squares and Square Roots in Algebra

You might like to read our Introduction to Squares and Square Roots first.

Squares
To square a number, just multiply it by itself ...

Example: What is 3 squared?

3 Squared =

=33= 9

"Squared" is often written as a little 2 like this:

This says "4 Squared equals 16"

(the little 2 means the number appears twice in multiplying)

Square Root
A square root goes the other direction:

3 squared is 9, so a square root of 9 is 3

It is like asking:

What can I multiply by itself to get this?

Definition
Here is the definition:

A square root of x is a number whose square is x:

r2 = x
r is the square root

The Square Root Symbol

This is the special symbol that means "square root", it is like a tick,
and actually started hundreds of years ago as a dot with a flick
upwards.
It is called the radical, and always makes mathematics look important!

We can use it like this:

we say "square root of 9 equals 3"

Example: What is 36 ?
Answer: 6 6 = 36, so 36 = 6

Negative Numbers
We can also square negative numbers.

Example: What is minus 5 squared?

But hang on ... what does "minus 5 squared" mean?

square the 5, then do the
minus?
Or square (5)?
It isn't clear! And we get different answers:
Square the 5, then do the minus: (55) = 25
Square (5): (5)(5) = +25
So let's make it clear by using "( )".

Example Corrected: What is (5)2 ?

Answer:

(5) (5) = 25
(because a negative times a negative gives a positive )

That was interesting!

When we square a negative number we get a positive result.

Just the same as when we square a positive number:

Remember our defintion of a square root?

r2 = x
r is the square root
And we just found that:

(5)2 = 25
(+5)2 = 25

Two Square Roots

And that means ...

... a square root of 25 can be 5 or 5

So there can be a positive or negative square root!
This is important to remember!

Example: Solve w2 = a
Answer:

w = a

or

w = a

Principal Square Root

So if there are really two square roots, why do people say 25 = 5 ?

Because means the principal square root ... the one that isn't negative!
There are two square roots, but the symbol means just the principal square root.

Example:
The square roots of 36 are 6 and 6
But 36 = 6 (not 6)

The Principal Square Root is sometimes called the Positive Square Root.

Plus-Minus Sign
is a special symbol that means "plus or
minus",
so instead of
w = a
writing:
we can write:

or

w = a

w = a

In a Nutshell
When we have:

then:

r2 = x
r = x

Why Is This Important?

Why is this "plus or minus" important? Because we don't want to miss a solution!

Example: Solve x2 9 = 0

Start with:

x2 9 = 0

Move 9 to right:

x2 = 9

Take Square
Root:

x = 9

Answer:

x = 3

The " " tells us to include the "3" answer also.

Example: Solve for x in (x 3)2 = 16

Calculate 16:

(x 3) 2 = 16
x 3 = 16
x 3 = 4

Move 3 to the

x=34

Start with:
Take Square Root:

right:
Answer:

x = 7 or 1

Check: (73)2 = 42 = 16
Check: (13)2 = (4)2 = 16

Square Root of xy
When two numbers are multiplied within a square root, we can split it into a multiplication of two
square roots like this:

but only when x and y are both greater than or equal to 0

Example: What is (1004) ?

(1004) = (100) (4)
= 10 2
= 20

Example: What is 82 ?
82 = (82)
= 16
=4

Example: What is (8 2) ?
(8 2) = (8) (2)
= ???
We seem to have fallen into some trap here!
To continue that way, we need Imaginary Numbers , and get the wrong result of 4
Oh that's right ...

The rule only works when x and y are both greater than or equal to 0
So we can't use that rule here.
Instead just do it this way:

(8 2) = 16 = +4

An Exponent of a Half

A square root can also be written as a fractional exponent of one-half:

but only for x greater than or equal to 0

How About the Square Root of Negatives?

The result is an Imaginary Number ... read that page to learn more.

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5

Question 6 Question 7 Question 8 Question 9 Question 10
Harder Question

Irrational Numbers
Surds
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