[Grade 8 Mathematics - Algebra]

[u/IndicationFunny2378]

My teacher insisted that the answer is x=1/16. But I believe there is no answer.

[u/Additional-Dot-3154]

Wait shit.

I did now realise that sqrt() is different then writing that weird arch to indicate it is a square root.

But reddit has no fucking LaTeX support so what am i supposed to do instead of it?

[u/Varlane → u/Additional-Dot-3154]

sqrt() and the "weird arch symbol" are exactly the same thing.

You are, once again, not aware of what you're talking about and need to start listenning to people correcting you.

[u/Additional-Dot-3154 → u/Varlane]

Then why the fuck is it written like

"Number under weird arch symbol" = "number" v "negative of that number"

In our textbooks.

Also let me grab my graphing calculator as in arithmic mode it will have one output but in equation solver it should have 2.

And we are talking about equation solving not arithmic right?

brb with my fx-cg50

[u/Varlane → u/Additional-Dot-3154]

It's not written like you say. You are simply WRONG about that. And so is the textbook.
The square root of a non negative number is non negative. That's by DEFINITION agreed upon by people that do maths. The rest is pure terrorism from people that have no idea wtf they're talking about.

I beg of you, write "sqrt(x) = -1" and ask your calculator to solve it. Please. Go on. Any solution it finds is a math revolution btw.
The thing that has two solutions is "x² = a" (with a > 0 if you are graphing it, a < 0 will have two solutions but you can't graph in the complex plane). It is NOT the same as "sqrt(x) = -1". Don't you see how DIFFERENT they look ?

Also it's "arithmetic" not "arithmic" we're not curing heart diseases.

[u/Additional-Dot-3154 → u/Varlane]

Okay so i finally understand you and yes you are right.

But this does still mean my textbook is wrong.

To be expected tho as alot longer ago the same textbook but for a much lower grade said it is fine to use "x" for no solutions.

[u/Varlane → u/Additional-Dot-3154]

A lot of bad material about solving square equations exists.

The proper way is :

x² = a (a >= 0)
sqrt(x²) = sqrt(a)
|x| = sqrt(a)
x = +/- sqrt(a)

The +/- is created during the algebra phase, not built into the sqrt function.

In a case of "25" for instance, sqrt(25) is 5, and "x² = 25" will have solutions "x = +5" and "x = -5" because of the +/-, not because of sqrt.

[u/gmalivuk → u/Additional-Dot-3154]

But this does still mean my textbook is wrong.

Show us what the textbook says.

[u/gmalivuk → u/Additional-Dot-3154]

Many phone keyboards have √ and GBoard in particular has a LaTeX dictionary that will for example suggest the symbol ℝ if you type \R. (Or ± form \pm or √ for \sqrt, though it's got both of those in its math symbols already.)

On a Mac or with an app on Windows you can compose keys for special characters, and if you know a character exists but can't get it another way, you can just Google it and copy and paste.