Question 150883
Dear Anna,

i is an imaginary number.  you attain the square root of any negative number by taking the square root of the opposite and multiplying it by + or - i.  So the square root of -16 is the square root of 16 (4 or -4) multiplied by i (4i or -4i). Since i^2=-1, +4i or -4i would be the sqaure root of -16, because:


4i(4i)=(4)^2(i^2)
(4)^2(i^2)=16(-1)
16(-1)=-16


-4i(-4i)=(-4)^2(i^2)
(-4)^2(i^2)=16(-1)
16(-1)=-16


I hope that this has helped you.
Sincerely,
Alani (mangopeeler07)