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Question 23676: is 9 the square root of 81? or is 81 the square root of 9?
Answer by rapaljer(4671)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! First of all, the square of a number is the number times itself. For example, the squre of 9 is 81, so you could also say that 81 is the square of 9. We write this  or  .
The "square root" of a number is NOT the same as the "square" of a number. In fact it is the OPPOSITE operation. If you square 9 and get 81, what if you decide you did NOT really mean to do that, and you want to start with the 81 and go back to the 9. In other words you want to UNDO the 81 and come back to 9. THAT is what a square root is all about.
The square root of 81 is 9. The square root of 25 is 5. The square root of 100 is 10. The symbol we use for this in math is this symbol:
 ,  ,  .
You might want some additional explanation on this from my Lesson Plan "Square Roots, Cube Roots, and More" right here in algebra.com. I have additional materials on my own website by clicking on my tutor name "rapaljer" anywhere in algebra.com. Then go to Basic Algebra, then Samples from One Step at a Time, and then go to my Chapter 5. The whole chapter goes into GREAT depth on square roots, way beyond the basics.
R^2 at SCC
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