Michigan Algebra I Sept. 2012

Taking the square root of a number is the inverse operation of squaring a number, just as adding is the inverse of subtracting. Therefore because and the operations cancel each other out. Remember from previous courses that 9 is a perfect square because it is the product of an integer with itself. Here is a list of the first twelve perfect square numbers.

Memorizing the perfect square numbers will be beneficial when simplifying radical expressions.

It is also possible to take square roots of variables using the same process of looking for perfect squares. For example because the operations cancel each other out.