document.write( "Question 382492: Why can't square roots be negative? \n" ); document.write( "

Algebra.Com's Answer #271178 by richard1234(7193) $\"\"$ $\"About$

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Normally, square roots denote the positive root only, and to put the negative root we just use $\"-sqrt%28x%29\"$ .\r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "However, square roots of negative numbers (e.g. $\"sqrt%28-9%29\"$ ) are usually expressed as $\"0+%2B-+3i\"$ (omit the zero, I get weird output without it), probably because we can't easily classify complex numbers as positive or negative. \n" ); document.write( "

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