Square Root in Python

In this tutorial, we'll delve into the various methods available in Python to calculate the square root.

The Power Operator

One of the most direct approaches to determine the square root is by leveraging the power operator (**).

num**0.5

When you raise a number to the power of 0.5, you're essentially computing its square root.

For instance, let's take the number 25:

numero = 25

Then raise the variable to the power of 0.5.

numero ** 0.5

This will yield a result of 5.0.

5.0

It's worth noting that if your number is positive, its square root will be a real number.

However, for negative numbers, you'll receive a complex result.

Another efficient method is the `sqrt()` function found in the `math` module.

math.sqrt()

This module is a standard part of Python, so there's no installation required.

For instance, import the math module using the import statement.

import math

Then assign the number 25 to the variable "number".

numero = 25

Finally, compute the square root of the number using the math.sqrt() function.

math.sqrt(numero)

The outcome, in this case, is also 5.0 for the number 25.

5.0

Do remember, the `sqrt()` function from the `math` module can only process positive numbers.

If you attempt it with a negative number, it will raise an error.

For those involved in scientific computing or data analytics, the `numpy` module offers its version of the `sqrt()` function.

numpy.sqrt(numero)

This function is particularly advantageous when working with number arrays, as it can compute the square root for each array element seamlessly.

For example, import the numpy module with the alias "np" using the import statement.

import numpy as np

Then assign the number 25 to the variable "number".

numero = 25

Finally, compute the square root using numpy's sqrt() function.

np.sqrt(numero)

The result remains consistent: for the number 25, it's 5.0.

5.0

However, a word of caution: if you provide a negative number to numpy's `sqrt()`, it will return "nan" (not a number).