How do you solve #x^2 = 256#?
2 Answers
Jan 10, 2016
You just take the square root of both sides. Square root of
Jan 10, 2016
This has two solutions
Explanation:
One way to look for square roots of numbers is to start by factorising them.
In this example,
#256 = 2 * 128#
Then
#256 = 2 * 2 * 64#
Keep on going until you find:
#256 = 2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2 = 2^8#
At this point it is clear that:
#256 = (2*2*2*2)*(2*2*2*2) = 2^4*2^4 = (2^4)^2 = 16^2#
So
#(-16)^2 = (-16)*(-16) = 256#