Root (operation)
From AoPSWiki
The 
th root of a number 
, denoted by ![\sqrt[n]{x}](http://alt2.artofproblemsolving.com/Forum/latexrender/pictures/c/5/1/c51d371dc0c371a8eb79d3d2c2d8675d3210dac4.gif)
, is a common operation on numbers and a partial inverse to exponentiation. (The proper inverse is the logarithm)
Definition
For any (not necessarily real) numbers 
, ![y=\sqrt[n]{x}](http://alt2.artofproblemsolving.com/Forum/latexrender/pictures/e/e/6/ee610c07cab3683c816bd8a0a725160df6c63f08.gif)
if 
. Note that we generally take only the positive value of 
, if we wish to take both the positive and negative roots, we write ![\pm\sqrt[n]{x}](http://alt2.artofproblemsolving.com/Forum/latexrender/pictures/9/8/7/9870cce03c5dfe23e11c22d3f34ecb633524b276.gif)
.
See Also
- Algebra
- Square root, a special form of a root.
