quote:
Original post by Zipster
Yup.
I probably shouldn't have used the word "assumed", and I should have used the word "function" instead of "operation", but basically I was saying exactly what you said.
Yesterday, I was looking at MathWorld's article on square roots and I thought, doh, Zipster was right
quote:
A square root of x is a number r such that r² = x. Square roots are also called radicals or surds. Any positive real number has two square roots: one positive and one negative.
quote:
Any nonnegative real number x has a unique nonnegative square root r; this is called the principal square root. For example, the principal square root of 9 is 3, while the other square root of 9 is -3. In common usage, unless otherwise specified, "the" square root is generally taken to mean the principal square root.
Anyway, I didn't say any heresy in my last post. To sum it up, 9 has two square roots, but x = sqrt(9) has only one answer, by convention.
Cédric
[edited by - cedricl on January 6, 2003 4:16:37 PM]
[edited by - cedricl on January 6, 2003 4:16:57 PM]
