How do you simplify 312?

1 Answer
Oct 30, 2017

312=6

Explanation:

What is interesting about this example is that it is a counterexample to the often quoted "identity":

ab=ab

In fact this identity only holds if at least one of a or b is non-negative.

By convention, the principal square root of a negative number n is given by:

n=in

So:

312=i3i12=i2312=1312=36=6