Question
Using thedefinition of a square root, explain why
is not a real number.
There is no real number
such that
There is no real number
Ask by Flynn Tran. in the United States
Mar 28,2025
Upstudy AI Solution
Tutor-Verified Answer
Answer
Thus,
is not a real number because there is no real number
such that
.
Solution
By definition, the square root of a number
is a value
such that
. This means that for any real number
, if
is non-negative, there exists a real number
such that
.
In the case of , we are looking for a real number
such that
. However, the square of any real number is always non-negative (i.e.,
). Therefore, there cannot be a real number
that satisfies this equation since
is negative.
In the case of
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Extra Insights
To understand why
is not a real number, let’s look at the definition of a square root. A square root of a number
is a number
such that when you square it, you get
(i.e.,
). In this case, if
were to equal
, that would mean we need a real number
whose square is a negative value. However, squaring any real number, whether positive or negative, always results in a non-negative value. Hence, there is no real number
that can satisfy this equation, proving that
is not a real number.
Furthermore, this leads us to the world of imaginary numbers! The concept of imaginary numbers was introduced to handle the square roots of negative numbers, allowing us to define
as
. Thus,
can actually be expressed as
. This concept expanded our understanding of numbers and enabled a myriad of applications in fields like engineering, physics, and complex number theory. So, while
may not be a real number, it’s very much still a number in the innovative realm of complex mathematics!