what exactly does the square root of a number represent?
In: Mathematics
If you literally drew a square with sides = the square root of a number, then the area of that square would equal that number. e.g. 2 is the square root of 4, and a square with sides = 2 (whatever units, inches, miles, it doesn’t matter) would have an area of 4 (of the same units).
A number that, if you multiply it by itself, would give you the original number. Useful in some calculations.
A square root allows you to relate a two-dimensional area to a one-dimensional length.
When N items arranged in a square, the length of each side will be the square root of N. If you have 150 1’x1′ tiles, you know that is enough to cover a 12’x12′ square, but not enough for 13’x13′, because 12 < sqrt(150) < 13.
Even if the items are arranged in some other shape, the length across that shape will be some simple ratio of the square root.
The square root of a number, is the number that when multiplied by itself equals the original number.
So if 4 multiplied by itself is 16, then the square root of 16 is 4.
Quite literally the root component of the square. There are also cubed roots etc. Each exponential has constituent components (dictated by the power of the exponent – squared = 2, cubed = 3, etc). Each of those components is called a root.
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