Is it true to say that we cannot get she square-root of a minus number? Ya know, like -43.?

Question

*the* square-root

Answer 1

Actually there is a whole branch of mathematics (called complex mathematics) that is based on the roots of minus numbers.

The square root of -1 is taken to be i and the rest follows. Thus the square root of -43 would be 6.56i etc.

If you want to learn more about complex numbers look at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_numbers

Although complex numbers may be hard to understand as a physical quantity they have a wide range of applications (eg in a/c electricity).

Answer 2

It really depends on how complicated you want to make things or on how much maths you have done.

The simple answer is no - you cannot take the square root of a negative number as there is no number which when sqared would give a negative number [two negative numbers multiplied together give a positive answer, and two positive numbers multiplied together give a postive answer]

If you do a lot of Mathematics however you will come across Complex Numbers. 'i' is a complex number and is the square root of -1. Using this it is then possible to find the square root of negative numbers.

Lets look at the sqaure root of -43

That would be [root](-1)(43)

Which would be {[root]43}i

Hope that helps

Answer 3

actually we call square root from A some positive number whic gives in result A if we multiply it on itself. but theres more definition for square root. if we r talkin about complex numbers then yeah every complex number has 2 square roots but they r coplex numbers too. in case of -43 its roots are equal to each other and its sqrt(43)*i

i can tell u how we get square root form copmlex numbers but im a bit lazy :D

Answer 4

In real life, square root of negative number makes no sense (has no meaning). For example, you cannot have a square with a negative area.

But anyway, we can get a square-root of a negative number. It is defined in complex number set, that square root of -1 is an imaginary unit i. And therefore square root of -43 is approx. ±6.56*i

Answer 5

It is possible to get a square root of a number. (In higher studies). The square root of a negative number is called a complex number, it is denoted as i.
The square root of -1 = i
e.g the square root of -43 = 43i
You can read up on this in mathematical books

Answer 6

yes because all squares of minus numbers are positive numbers...
-1 times -1 is 1.

Answer 7

u can get the square root of a negative number. teh square root of -1 is the imaginary number i. imaginary numbers are as real as 1, 2,3 etc

Answer 8

Yup - what number could you square to get a negative?

Answer 9

Only with Complex Numbers can you have a negative SQRT.

Answer 10

You can use complex numbers. Take √(-43) for example.
By definition: í is called iota.
í = √(-1)
So -43 becomes:
√(-43) = √(43) * √(-1)
√(-43) = √(43) * í
√(-43) = ± 6∙5574... * í
√(-43) = ± 6∙5574..í