surd

A surd is a number or quantity that cannot be expressed as the ratio of two integer s. The term also refers to a symbol ( ) that is sometimes used to indicate that the number or quantity that follows it is a root.

The surd symbol, all by itself, indicates the square root (1/2 power). If the surd has a number x written ahead of it and over the horizontal portion, then the symbol refers to the x th root (1/ x power) of that number. Therefore, for example:

indicates the cube root (1/3 power)

indicates the fourth root (1/4 power)

indicates the -7th root (-1/7 power)

indicates the n th root (1/ n power)

The extent of the quantity affected by the surd, and that follows it, is indicated by placing a horizontal line over that quantity. The most common example is the square root symbol .

Also see Mathematical Symbols .

Last updated on: Sep 21, 2005

>  Enterprise Software related Research & News >  White Papers for the Retail Industry Are you a Know-IT-All? What handy input device did Douglas Englebart invent? Answer  Get the Word of the Day  Follow us on Twitter WORD OF THE DAY... SAP LEARN MORE ABOUT... SAP trends USA Contributors Worldwide Contributors Awards and Recognition Our 60+ tech-specific sites WhatIs.com RSS Feeds