Mathematics

Grade 7 • Unit 4: The Real Number System

LESSON 4.1
Principal Root of a Number
Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Test Your Prerequisite Skills 2

DepEd Competency 3

Objectives 3

Warm-Up! 3

Learn about It! 5

Let’s Practice 7

Check Your Understanding 11

Key Points 12

Bibliography 13
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Grade 7 • Unit 4: The Real Number System

Lesson 4.1
Principal Root of a Number

Fig. 1. Babylonian Tablet

Introduction
Did you know that the Ancient Babylonians first encountered the need for square roots when
they tried finding the dimensions of a rectangle? As a result, they compiled the lists of perfect
squares and perfect cubes on a tablet named BM92698 to quickly find square roots and cube
roots in solving problems involving area, volume, and lengths.

Today, square roots and principal roots of a number are still very helpful in everyday

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Grade 7 • Unit 4: The Real Number System

situations. They are more particularly helpful in finding the side of a square given the area.
For example, if you are asked to find the dimensions of land given its area, you can use your
knowledge on square roots or estimating the value of square roots.

In this lesson, you will learn more about the principal root of a number and some of its
applications in real-life situations.

Test Your Prerequisite Skills

Before you get started, answer the following items on a separate sheet of paper. This will
help you assess your prior knowledge and practice some skills that you will need in studying
this lesson. Show your complete solution.

1. Arrange the given numbers in ascending order.

a. 230, −13, 23, −3, 30
3
b. −0.5, 150, 15, −10, − 20
1
c. 4 5 , −4, 0, 0.28, 4
7 1
d. −6.8, 0.86, , −5, −
10 3

2. Multiply the given numbers.

a. 4 × (−3)
b. (−10) × (−2) × (−4)
c. (−9)2 × (−1)
1 34
d. 2
× (− 15)
3 5
e. −3 × 8
11 9

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Grade 7 • Unit 4: The Real Number System

DepEd Competency
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to describe principal roots and tells
whether they are rational or irrational. (M7NS-Ig-1)

Objectives
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to do the following:

● Correctly find principal roots.

● Correctly determine whether the principal root is a rational or irrational

number.

● Correctly solve real-life problems involving principal roots.

Warm-Up!

What’s My Area?

Materials
● pen
● 30 cm x 30 cm grid
● ruler
● transparent cutout square pieces of paper

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Grade 7 • Unit 4: The Real Number System

Instructions
1. This activity may be done individually or in pairs.
2. Your teacher will give you five different sizes of square cut-out pieces.
3. You will determine the area of each square piece of paper by counting the number of
1 cm x 1 cm squares inside.
4. To do this, you are to place the transparent square piece of paper on top of the grid to
count the number of square centimeters inside.

The following example shows a piece of paper with an area of 49 square centimeters:

5. Answer the following questions.

a. Without using a ruler, can you estimate the measure of its side?
b. What is the formula to be used when finding the area of a square given its side?

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Grade 7 • Unit 4: The Real Number System

Learn about It!

Recall that the side of a square can be determined using the formula 𝐴 = 𝑠 2 . Also, note that
given an integral value for the side of a square, its area becomes a perfect square.

Definition 1.1: A perfect square is a number that can be

written as a product of two equal integers.

Some areas of the squares, as shown by the pieces of paper in Warm Up! are examples of
perfect squares, like 4, 9, or 16. The number 4 can be written as the product of 2 and 2 (or −2
and 2), or 22 . Similarly, 81 can be written as the product of 9 and 9 (or −9 and −9), or 92 . On
the other hand, 35 is not a perfect square because it cannot be written as the product of two
equal integers.

Essential Question
What is a principal root of a number?

Definition 1.2: The principal root or the principal square

root is the positive square root of a positive real
number. The symbol for square root is √ .

The principal square root of 4 is 2 and not −2. Also, the principal square root of 81 is 9 and
not −9. Note that principal roots also refer to any nth root of a positive real number. In
𝑛
general, the nth root of a number 𝑥, written as √𝑥 , is the number such that ( √𝑥 ) = 𝑥. That
𝑛 𝑛

is, when the nth root of 𝑥 is raised to 𝑛, you get 𝑥.

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Grade 7 • Unit 4: The Real Number System

Essential Question
How do you determine if the principal square root of a real number is
rational or irrational?

Classifying Principal nth Roots as Rational or Irrational Numbers

We can determine whether a principal root is rational or not by examining the radicand or
the number inside the square root symbol. If the radicand is a perfect square, the principal
square root is rational; otherwise, it is irrational.

Definition 1.3: Any real number that may be expressed as a

ratio of two integers is a rational number;
otherwise, it is an irrational number.

Decimal numbers that are nonrepeating and nonterminating are also irrational numbers. The
numbers √2, 𝜋, and the special number 𝑒 are all examples of irrational numbers. Finally, if a
principal root is irrational, the best you can do is to show an estimate for its value.

Essential Question
How do you find a principal root?

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Grade 7 • Unit 4: The Real Number System

Estimating the Principal Root

Not all positive integers will have a principal integer root. Getting the principal root for these
numbers requires a process that is quite long and tedious. Sometimes, estimating its value is
already sufficient.

Consider √35.

There is no integer that you can square and get 35 because the only factors of 35 are 5 and 7,
and 1 and 35. In such case, √35 may not be simplified further and is left as it is. However, to
estimate its value, we consider the perfect squares closest to 35. In this case, the two perfect
squares closest to 35 are 25 and 36. Hence,

√25 < √35 < √36.

Getting the principal square roots of the two perfect squares results in

5 < √35 < 6.

Thus, you can estimate the value of √35 to be between 5 and 6.

Let’s Practice
Example 1
What is the principal square root of 25?

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Grade 7 • Unit 4: The Real Number System

Solution
The number 25 can be written as the product of two equal positive integers, that is 5 × 5.
Hence, the principal square root of 25 is 5.

Try It Yourself!
Determine the principal square root of 121.

Example 2
Tell whether the numbers √225 and √0.04 are rational or irrational.
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Solution
The number √225 is irrational because we cannot find an integer that, when cubed, gives
3

225. √0.04, on the other hand, is equal to 0.2 since 0.22 = 0.04. Note that this number is
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rational since √0.04 = 0.2 may be written as the ratio of two integers 5.

Try It Yourself!
Tell whether the numbers √625 and √10 000 are rational or irrational.
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Example 3
Between what two consecutive integers does the principal square root of 48 lie?

Solution
The two perfect squares closest to 48 are 36 and 49. Hence,

√36 < √48 < √49.

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Getting the principal square roots of 36 and 49, respectively, we have

6 < √48 < 7.

Thus, the square root of 48 lies between 6 and 7.

Try It Yourself!
Between what two consecutive integers does the principal square root of 300 lie?

Real-world Problems
Example 4
Mr. Chavez is making a triangular roof ridge with a base
measure of √318 feet and sides whose measures are √111 and
√98 feet respectively. If the hardware store only sells wooden
beams in exact whole number measures, what is the minimum
possible lengths of the beams that he can buy?

Solution
We need to estimate the lengths of the wooden beams by listing the closest perfect squares
to √318, √111 and √98.

Step 1: Find the two perfect squares closest to each of the radicand and set up the
inequality for each.

The two perfect squares closest to 318 are 289 and 324. Hence,

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Grade 7 • Unit 4: The Real Number System

√289 < √318 < √324.

The two perfect squares closest to 111 are 100 and 121. Hence,

√100 < √111 < √121

The two perfect squares closest to 98 are 81 and 100. Hence,

√81 < √98 < √100

Step 2: Get the principal square roots of the perfect squares.

Getting the principal square roots of 289 and 324, respectively, we have

17 < √318 < 18

We will choose a beam that measures 18 feet so that it can still fit the required
measurement of the ridge.

Getting the principal square roots of 100 and 121, respectively, we have

10 < √111 < 11

Getting the principal square roots of 81 and 100, respectively, we have

9 < √98 < 10

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Grade 7 • Unit 4: The Real Number System

Getting the principal square roots,

9 < √98 < 10 < √111 < 11

Step 3: Since the beams are only sold in exact measures, choose the integers greater
than the required lengths and not the ones less than them.

Thus, Mr. Chavez can buy wooden beams measuring 18 feet for the base and beams of
lengths 10 feet and 11 feet for the sides.

Try It Yourself!
Mr. Carlos decided to make a glass frame for his old coins collection.
The length and width of the frame are √564 inches and √435 inches,
respectively. If the glass frames are only available in exact whole
number measures, what are the closest exact measures of the
dimensions that will meet the given requirement?

Check Your Understanding

1. Determine the principal square root of 196.

2. What positive number would you multiply by itself to get 961?

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3. Determine between what two consecutive integers each of the following numbers lie.
a. √99
b. √120
c. √200
d. √315
e. √370

4. Classify whether each of the following numbers is rational or irrational. If it is rational,

identify its principal root.
a. √121
b. √150
c. √225
d. √310
e. √500

5. Miguel wants to frame his poem printed on a square piece of paper which has an area
of 1 000 square centimeters. He wants the frame to also be in the shape of a square.
However, the dimensions of the frame are only sold in exact whole number measures.
What would be the shortest length of the side of the frame that would be able to cover
the paper?

Key Points

● A perfect square is a number that can be written as a product of two equal integers.
● The principal root or principal square root is the positive square root of a real
number. The symbol for the square root is √ .
● Any number that may be expressed as a ratio of two integers is a rational number;

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otherwise, it is an irrational number.

● In classifying principal nth roots as rational or irrational numbers, if the radicand
or the number inside the square root symbol is a perfect square, the principal square
root is rational; otherwise, it is irrational.
● In estimating the principal root of a given number, we get the two perfect squares
closest to the given number and estimate the principal square root to be between the
principal roots of the two perfect squares.

Bibliography

OnlineMath Learning.com. “Solve Square Root Word Problems.” Accessed March 25, 2019.
https://www.onlinemathlearning.com/square-root-word-problems-2.html

Math Worksheets Land. “Square Root Word Problems.” Accessed March 25, 2019.
https://www.mathworksheetsland.com/8/4zsqrootwords.html

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