Why/how does the exponent of 1/2 mean the square root?
you know that
x^a * x^b = x^(a+b)
x^(1/2) * x^(1/2) = x^(1/2 + 1/2) = x^1 = x
√x * √x = x
(√x)^2 = (x^(1/2))^2 = x^(2 * 1/2) = x^1 = x
x^a * x^b = x^(a+b)
x^(1/2) * x^(1/2) = x^(1/2 + 1/2) = x^1 = x
√x * √x = x
(√x)^2 = (x^(1/2))^2 = x^(2 * 1/2) = x^1 = x