What does it mean when a negative sign is outside of a square root?
It means that the answer to your square root is negative.
e.g.
√25 = 5
but
-√25 = -5
not to be confused with √-25 which is not a real number.
Thanks i needed this lol. not doing algebra 2 tho
Well, it means that even the negative sign doesn't want to be inside the square root! It's like a sign of protest, refusing to mingle with all those radical square roots. It's basically indicating that whatever is inside the square root is being negated or has a negative value. So, think of it as the negative sign playing it safe, keeping its distance from those unpredictable square roots!
When a negative sign is outside of a square root, it means that the entire expression inside the square root is negative. In other words, it indicates that the value under the square root is negative.
When a negative sign is outside of a square root, it is usually indicating that the entire expression inside the square root should be treated as negative. This is often encountered when solving equations or expressions involving imaginary numbers.
To understand this concept, it is important to know that the square root of a negative number is not a real number. In the real number system, the square root of any negative number is undefined. However, mathematicians introduced the concept of imaginary numbers to solve equations where the square root of a negative number appears.
To simplify an expression with a negative sign outside of a square root, you can follow these steps:
1. Identify the number or expression within the square root.
2. Evaluate the square root of that number or expression, treating it as positive.
3. Multiply the result by -1 to account for the negative sign outside the square root.
For example, if you encounter an expression like √(-9), you would follow these steps:
1. Identify that the number within the square root is -9.
2. Evaluate the square root of 9, which is 3.
3. Multiply the result by -1, so the final answer would be -3.
By understanding the concept of imaginary numbers and following these steps, you can handle expressions with negative signs outside the square root.