document.write( "Question 1133226: what is the correct solution?\r
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document.write( "√-80 (square root of -80)\r
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document.write( "a.i√-80
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document.write( "b.-4i√5
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document.write( "c.-80i
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document.write( "d.4i√5\r
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document.write( "*√ (symbol of a square root) \n" );
document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #750406 by greenestamps(13198)![]() ![]() You can put this solution on YOUR website! \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "Answer d. \n" ); document.write( "Note that both answer b and answer d, when squared, give the same result of -80. However, just as 2 and -2 squared both give the result 4 but sqrt(4) = 2 and not -2, the square root of -80 is 4i*sqrt(5) and not -4i*sqrt(5). \n" ); document.write( "---------------------------------------------------------------- \n" ); document.write( "Added after reading the response by tutor @ikleyn.... \n" ); document.write( "----------------------------------------------------------------- \n" ); document.write( "It is true that, in the complex domain, every number, real or complex, has two square roots. So the square root of 4 has two square roots, 2 and -2; and the square root of -80 has two square roots, 4i*sqrt(5) and -4i*sqrt(5). \n" ); document.write( "But when you write the number sqrt(4), or sqrt(-80), for use in a calculation, it has to have a single value. \n" ); document.write( "A high school student who wrote as an answer on a test that the square root of 4 is -2 would be marked wrong; and if he used -2 as the value of the square root of 4 in a calculation, he would end up with the wrong answer. \n" ); document.write( "In this problem, two of the answer choices are 4i*sqrt(5) and -4i*sqrt(5). Since it would be presumed that these are answer choices on a test with only one correct answer, the answer should be d only. \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " |