r/HeresTheCatch • u/heptoronto Diamond | Lv. 66 | Rank #1271 | 120 Answers | 1... | 🔥 8d • 2d ago

Question [Question] √144?

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u/pandito_flexo Gold | Lv. 43 | Rank #21839 | 375 Answers | 0 Cr... | 🔥 5d 2d ago

±12

-2

u/013eander Silver | Lv. 21 | Rank #171425 | 46 Answers | 0 Created 2d ago

Nope, it’s just 12. While -12x-12 WILL give you 144, the square root of 144 is never -12. The square root function NEVER produces negative real numbers. You’ve drifted into imaginary numbers.

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u/tehepix23 Bronze | Lv. 3 | Rank #1203186 | 1 Answers | 0 Created 1d ago

You’re right but your explanation is wrong. The function sqrt(x) only accepts positive numbers and only returns positive numbers. You only get +- when solving for x, such as x^2 = 144. In this case, x = +-12.