Square root any nonnegative number, then the principal square root of −"x" is The right side (as well as its negative) is indeed a square root of −"x", since For every non-zero complex number "z" there exist precisely two numbers "w" such that : the principal square root of "z" (defined below), and its negative. There are two complex numbers that square to a given arbitrary non-zero imaginary number formula_11 with real formula_12 where the two-digit pattern {3, 6} repeats over and over again in the partial denominators. Since , the above is also identical to the following generalized continued fractions: The
Square root of 2 fraction representation: The convergents formed by truncating this representation form a sequence of fractions that approximate the square root of two to increasing accuracy, and that are described by the Pell numbers (known as side and diameter numbers to the ancient Greeks because of their use in approximating the ratio between the sides and diagonal of a square). The first convergents are: . The convergent differs from by almost exactly and then the next convergent is . The following nested square expressions converge to formula_79: The reciprocal of the square root of two (the square root of ) is a