Art of Problem Solving
AoPS Online
Math texts, online classes, and more
for students in grades 5-12.
Visit AoPS Online ‚
Books for Grades 5-12 Online Courses
Beast Academy
Engaging math books and online learning
for students ages 6-13.
Visit Beast Academy ‚
Books for Ages 6-13 Beast Academy Online
AoPS Academy
Small live classes for advanced math
and language arts learners in grades 2-12.
Visit AoPS Academy ‚
Find a Physical Campus Visit the Virtual Campus
During AMC testing, the AoPS Wiki is in read-only mode and no edits can be made.

Square roots are always nonnegative

Revision as of 21:15, 4 February 2025 by Charking (talk | contribs) (Proposed for deletion)

Many people get confused, thinking that $x^2 = 16$ and $x= \sqrt{16}$ are the same. Though both of these are similar, one of them only has one answer. If we take $x^2 = 16$, we can see that it has $2$ answers; $4$ and $-4$. On the other hand, $x = \sqrt{16}$ only has one.


Square Root is a function, and a function cannot have two different answers for one input. Technically $-4$ and $4$ are "square roots" of $16$, but the square root function only represents one of them--the nonnegative answer.


This page has been proposed for deletion. Reason: Long title, can be stated in page Square root

Note to sysops: Before deleting, please review: • What links here • Discussion page • Edit history

Retrieved from "https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php?title=Square_roots_are_always_nonnegative&oldid=242054"