Square root of 2 the square root of two, with a reasonable small denominator, the fraction (≈ 1.4142857) is sometimes used. The sequence in the OEIS gives the numerical value for the square root of two, truncated to 65 decimal places: The Babylonian clay tablet YBC 7289 (c. 1800–1600 BC) gives an approximation of in four sexagesimal figures, , which is accurate to about six decimal digits, and is the closest possible three-place sexagesimal representation of : Another early close approximation is given in ancient Indian mathematical texts, the Sulbasutras (c. 800–200 BC) as follows: "Increase the length [of the side] by its third
Square root Square root In mathematics, a square root of a number "a" is a number "y" such that ; in other words, a number "y" whose "square" (the result of multiplying the number by itself, or ) is "a". For example, 4 and −4 are square roots of 16 because . Every nonnegative real number "a" has a unique nonnegative square root, called the "principal square root", which is denoted by , where √ is called the "radical sign" or "radix". For example, the principal square root of 9 is 3, which is denoted by = 3, because and 3 is