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The two square roots of a negative number are both imaginary numbers, and the square root symbol refers to the principal square root, the one with a positive imaginary part. For the definition of the principal square root of other complex numbers, see Square root § Principal square root of a complex number.
The square root of a positive integer is the product of the roots of its prime factors, because the square root of a product is the product of the square roots of the factors. Since p 2 k = p k , {\textstyle {\sqrt {p^{2k}}}=p^{k},} only roots of those primes having an odd power in the factorization are necessary.
Square roots of negative numbers are called imaginary because in early-modern mathematics, only what are now called real numbers, obtainable by physical measurements or basic arithmetic, were considered to be numbers at all – even negative numbers were treated with skepticism – so the square root of a negative number was previously considered undefined or nonsensical.
√ (square-root symbol) Denotes square root and is read as the square root of. Rarely used in modern mathematics without a horizontal bar delimiting the width of its argument (see the next item). For example, √2. √ (radical symbol) 1. Denotes square root and is read as the square root of.
radical symbol (for square root) 1637 (with the vinculum above the radicand) René Descartes (La Géométrie) % percent sign: 1650 (approx.) unknown
A square root of a number x is a number r which, when squared, becomes x: =. Every positive real number has two square roots, one positive and one negative. For example, the two square roots of 25 are 5 and −5. The positive square root is also known as the principal square root, and is denoted with a radical sign:
The laws of arithmetic for negative numbers ensure that the common-sense idea of an opposite is reflected in arithmetic. For example, − (−3) = 3 because the opposite of an opposite is the original value. Negative numbers are usually written with a minus sign in front. For example, −3 represents a negative quantity with a magnitude of ...
The plus and minus symbols are used to show the sign of a number. In mathematics, the sign of a real number is its property of being either positive, negative, or 0.Depending on local conventions, zero may be considered as having its own unique sign, having no sign, or having both positive and negative sign.