# SQUARE ROOT

The square root symbol is represented as: √. The square root is an operation where a quantity must be multiplied by itself once in order to obtain a certain number. The square root of a positive real number x is the number whose square is x positive. Any real number x that is positive has a square root that represents a real number. The square root of a number n is an integer or an irrational number, this result cannot be expressed by a fraction. The meaning of mathematical symbols  of square root has been present throughout the years, already in Babylonian times a clay tablet from the 18th century BC, shows that said civilization knew the square root of two as well as a calculation algorithm. For the Renaissance, the mathematicians of the epic are asked to define the square root of a negative number, this is how complex numbers arise, providing even more symbology within the square root.

## Making the square root symbol with the keyboard

is very useful when we need to represent mathematical operations. Whether you have a Windows keyboard or a Mac computer keyboard, the procedure is very simple and will only take a few seconds. Using the right key combination, you can put the square root symbol anywhere in a document.

Let’s see the procedure step by step.

## Square root symbol in Windows

In order to put on a Windows computer, you must activate the numeric keypad and enter the following key combination:

#### Alt + 251

This mathematical symbol will automatically appear in the part of the document you need.

## Square root symbol on Mac

If you have a Mac computer, its procedure is different. To put the square root symbol, you must enter the following key combination:

## Square root symbol in word

The mathematical square root symbol is called radical. If you need to insert the radical in a Microsoft Word document, you can do so through the “Symbols” menu. Once inserted, you can place a number inside the radical or leave it blank, if you want to insert the number later.

Open Microsoft Word If you want to insert the radical into an existing document, open the document through the “File” menu.

Click on Insert top of the screen. Click on Symbol right side of the ribbon. Click on More symbols in the box that appears.

Click on the “Subset” that is displayed. Select “Mathematical operators” located in the third line. Click on “Insert.” The radical will appear in your document.

### How a square root is made

The first use of this symbol to represent the square root is found in the work of Leonardo de Pisa, “Practical Geometry” of the year 1220.

In the eleventh century, the French mathematician Nicolás Chuquet, writes his algebra treatise where he refers to an exponential notation, for example √ (35 – √ 15) was written as: RU ~ 35 m 15 R, where R is the square root , this is how the notation of exponential powers is very close to the current ones and where the radicals are classified as R. This opens the door for new studies and major representations, but above all to give the symbol a character of permanence and universal presence .

The radical is the symbol that first appears in 1525, when Christoff Rudolff, a German mathematician makes use of the √ symbol to refer to the square root symbol in his German algebra textbook, entitled “Coss.”

For the year of 1637, the famous French mathematician, physicist and philosopher Descartes makes use of the √ symbol and adds a top bar in the geometry.

On the origin and the moment to decide that this symbol would be responsible for representing the square root is still in speculation, some authors have affirmed that the origin of the modern radical symbol is a deformation of R and the first letter of the root, as described by the Swiss mathematician and physicist Leonhard Euler in his book of differential calculus of the year of 1775.

Other authors have indicated that it is the alteration of the letter r in lowercase and that it is intended to represent the Latin word radix -root-.

However, the exact origin of the symbol has not been decisive so that the square root symbol is applied universally to indicate the operation of square root, even using the same symbol but with the addition of a 3 to represent the 3 √ cubic root , which is due to Albert Girard, the Frenchman known as the inventor of the new algebra.