Need clarity on square root values

by **mbarshaik** Fri Sep 26, 2008 5:29 am

[edited by ron. original post contained a problem here without attribution; the problem was completely unrelated to the query left below.]

It is a easy question but i am confused with Square root of 4 = 2 or +2,-2

by **Guest** Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:19 am

What does the square root of 4 have anything to do with the question????

by **mbarshaik** Fri Oct 10, 2008 2:05 pm

i just staed it as an example...question hs nothing to do with 4

by **RonPurewal** Wed Nov 05, 2008 3:52 am

um, yes, i'm a bit confused here as well.

tell you what: i'll do two things. i'll answer your question, and i'll remove the cited problem.

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answer to your query:

* √4 is positive 2. the symbol "√" represents a function, so it can have only one value; by convention, that value is chosen to be the positive value.

* if you're given the equation x^2 = 4, then there are two solutions to that equation: 2 and -2.
the difference is that, this time, you're not merely evaluating an expression. rather, you're actually finding the solutions to an equation; often, a single equation has multiple solutions.

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i have edited your original post, erasing the problem that was originally posted. i did this for two reasons, the second more important than the first:

* it was completely irrelevant to the √4 issue. and i mean completely irrelevant to the extent that even a professional mathematician on drugs couldn't think of a way to connect the two.

* a source was not cited. normally our protocol in such cases is to delete the entire post, but i left the √4 question.