Square Roots Explained in 5 Minutes
Consider the number 4. It's also a "square" number. This is a cute idea. It just means that if you have 4 objects you could arrange them as a square, like this..
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The total number of objects in the square is 2*2=4 and mathematicians say that 2 is the "square root" of 4.
This also introduces the concept of "squaring" a number. Squaring a number just means multiplying the number by itself, so 2 squared is 4 because 2*2=4, and 3 squared is 9, because 3*3=9 and so on.
Needless to say not all numbers are square numbers. The next square number after 4 is 9, and the next one after that is 16.
Here's 16 as a square..
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and its square root is 4. The square root of a square number is just the size of its square.
Of course, now we've started arranging numbers as patterns there's no reason we can't expand the idea to "rectangular" numbers or "triangular" numbers and more.
But square numbers are simple and they introduce the concept of square root. It turns out this is a very useful concept in mathematics.
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Content written and posted by Ken Abbott abbottsystems@gmail.com