Can you square a negative number

Only a positive times a negative or a negative times a positive will result in a negative answer and then those numbers would not be the same because they have different signs and so they could not be square roots. Hello, I wanted to know if I can square a negative number..? Hope this helps, Leeanne Go to Math Central.

Without javascript some functions will not work, including question submission via the form. When I square a negative number i. Why is this? Toggle menu visibility. Ask Another Question. Answered By: Adam St. Last Updated: Sep 13, Views: Toggle action bar FAQ Actions. In this case there is no difference in the answers, but if the exponent were even it would make a difference. A negative times a negative equals a positive , and 1 times 1 equals 1 , so - 1 2 is 1.

In real numbers , the square root of a negative is not defined. In complex numbers , the square root of a negative can indeed be defined as i times the square root of the absolute value. Squaring Removes Any Negative " Squaring " means to multiply a number by itself. Oh no! When we square a number, then take the square root, we may not end up with the number we started with! There is one interesting fact about cube roots that is not true of square roots. Negative numbers can 't have real number square roots , but negative numbers can have real number cube roots!

Remember, when you are multiplying an odd number of negative numbers, the result is negative! As shown earlier, a negative square root is one of two square roots of a positive number.

We can solve certain equations by finding the square root of a number. Perfect Cube. A perfect cube is the result of multiplying a number three times by itself. We can also say that perfect cubes are the numbers that have exact cube roots. A number is a perfect square or a square number if its square root is an integer; that is to say, it is the product of an integer with itself.

Here, the square root of is about Thus, the square root of is not an integer, and therefore is not a square number. So squares are only positive , and cubes can be negative if the base is negative. What is Cube Root of ? Since is a whole number, it is a perfect cube.