Pre-Calc Help?

Question

What are those superscript things called that come before square root signs? And does anyone know how to put them into a casio calculator?

Answer 1

They are the degrees of the root. If no superscript exists, that is the same as if a "2" was the superscript and the expression is a square root. If it is any other number "n", then the expression is interpreted as the "nth root" of the contents of the radical sign. Therefore a superscript 3 in front of the radical means cube root, etc.

If your calculator has a root function, you can use that. lf your calculator has a power function (x^y), then the power is just the reciprocal of the root degree. Therefore the expression 3√x (3 being the superscript) would be entered into the calculator as x^(1/3).