What are the square roots of 4?
Understand the Problem
The question is asking for the square roots of the number 4. The square root of a number is a value that, when multiplied by itself, gives the original number. In this case, we're looking for which numbers multiplied together yield 4.
Answer
The square roots of 4 are $2$ and $-2$.
Answer for screen readers
The square roots of the number 4 are $2$ and $-2$.
Steps to Solve
- Identifying the square roots of 4
We want to find the numbers that satisfy the equation $x^2 = 4$.
- Solving the equation
To solve for $x$, we take the square root of both sides:
$$ x = \pm \sqrt{4} $$
- Calculating the square root
Calculating the square root of 4 gives:
$$ x = \pm 2 $$
So the two square roots are $2$ and $-2$.
The square roots of the number 4 are $2$ and $-2$.
More Information
The square root of a number can yield both a positive and negative result. This is because both $2 \times 2$ and $(-2) \times (-2)$ equal 4.
Tips
- Forgetting that every positive number has both a positive and negative square root. Always check for both!