Jump to
Table of Contents
Share this
See also
Evaluate cube root
Evaluate n-th root
Evaluate n-th power
Evaluate log10x
Evaluate sin(x)
All evaluation tools

Square root calculator

- By Dr. Minas E. Lemonis, PhD - Updated: March 3, 2019

This tool evaluates the square root of a number: \sqrt{x} . Enter the argument x below.

x =
icon

Result:
\sqrt{x} =
icon

shape details

ADVERTISEMENT

Table of Contents
Share this

Definitions

General

The square root of a number x, is a number r so that r2= x. In modern notation square root is written as \sqrt{x} or x1/2. Since r2= (-r)2, any positive number has in principle two square roots, one positive and an opposite negative one. These are usually denoted as \pm\sqrt{x} . Depending on the application, only one of the two square roots may be associated with a physical meaning. The square root of a positive number is always a real number. The square root of 0 is 0.

The graph of the positive square root function of non-negative numbers is shown in the figure below. It is a monotonic function with a parabolic form

sqrt-graph

Properties

The derivative of the positive square root function (x>0) is:

\left(\sqrt x\right)' = \frac{1}{2\sqrt{x}}

The integral of the positive square root function is given by:

\int \sqrt x\, \mathrm{d}x = \frac{2x^{3/2}}{3} +C

Identities

The following formulas are valid for positive square root function:

\begin{split} &\sqrt {xy} &= \sqrt{x}\sqrt{y} \quad & x\ge 0, y\ge 0\ \\ \\ & \sqrt {\frac{x}{y}} &= \frac{\sqrt{x}}{\sqrt{y}} \quad & x\ge 0, y>0\ \\ \\ &\sqrt {x^n} &= \left(\sqrt{x}\right)^n \quad & x\ge 0\ \\ \\ \end{split}

Negative numbers

Since the square of any real number (positive or negative) is always positive, it is impossible to find a real square root of a negative number. Nevertheless, an expansion of the square root to negative numbers is meaningful for many applications. A trick is necessary in that case, employing an imaginary unit numberiwith the unique property:

i^2 = -1

Therefore, the square root of a negative number is an imaginary number:

\sqrt{-x} = i\sqrt{x}

See also
Evaluate cube root
Evaluate n-th root
Evaluate n-th power
Evaluate log10x
Evaluate sin(x)
All evaluation tools