Yep, you heard me right. This is not a drill.

Now, before we dive into this mind-bending topic, let’s first clarify what exactly we mean by “square root.” In math terms, it’s that little symbol with two lines above and below it () that makes us all feel like we’re in a trance. But for the sake of simplicity, let’s just call it the “root” from now on.

So what happens when you take the root of a decimal number? Well, bro, things get interesting. You see, unlike whole numbers (like 16 or 25), decimals don’t have perfect square roots that can be easily calculated using your trusty calculator. Instead, they require some serious math skills and a lot of patience.

Don’t Worry! We’re here to help you navigate the murky waters of decimal rooting with our handy-dandy guide.

To kick things off: let’s start with an example. Let’s say we want to find the square root of 12.56 (because why not?). Now, if this were a whole number like 144 or 256, we could simply take the square root using our calculator and get an answer that looks something like this:
(12.56) = 3.54…

But wait! What’s going on here? Why does it have all those decimal places? And why is it not a whole number like we expected? Well, my bro, the reason for this lies in the very nature of square roots and decimals. You see, when you take the root of a decimal number, what you’re actually doing is finding the distance between that number and zero on a number line (or grid). And since there are an infinite number of points between any two numbers on a line, it stands to reason that the square root of a decimal will also have an infinite number of decimal places.

So how do we deal with this? Well, bro, we use our trusty calculator and round off those ***** decimals to get something that’s more manageable (and less frustrating). And if you want to be really fancy, you can even use a scientific calculator or graphing software to plot the square root of your favorite decimal numbers on a graph.

But enough about theory! Let’s put this knowledge into practice and find the square root of some real-life decimals (because who doesn’t love math in action?).

Example #1: Find the square root of 25.67 using your calculator.

Step 1: Press “sqrt” or “” on your calculator to activate the square root function. Step 2: Enter the decimal number (in this case, 25.67) and press “enter.” Step 3: Wait for your calculator to do its thing and display the answer (which should look something like this: 5.084…).

Example #2: Find the square root of 19.2 using a scientific calculator or graphing software.

Step 1: Open up your favorite math tool and navigate to the “square root” function. Step 2: Enter the decimal number (in this case, 19.2) and press “enter.” Step 3: Wait for your tool to calculate the square root (which should look something like this: 4.38…) and display it on screen.

The square root of a decimal number is not as scary as it seems, my friend. With a little bit of patience and some basic math skills, anyone can find the answer to even the most complex problems (or at least get close enough). So go ahead and try out these examples for yourself who knows? You might just become a square root pro in no time!

Until next time, Keep on learning and keep on growing!