Nth root Nth root In mathematics, an "n"th root of a number "x", where "n" is usually assumed to be a positive integer, is a number "r" which, when raised to the power "n" yields "x": where "n" is the "degree" of the root. A root of degree 2 is called a "square root" and a root of degree 3, a "cube root". Roots of higher degree are referred by using ordinal numbers, as in "fourth root", "twentieth root", etc. For example: Any non-zero number, considered as complex number, has "n" different "complex roots of degree "n"" ("n"th roots), including those with
Cube root be −2, , or . This is related with the concept of monodromy: if one follows by continuity the function "cube root" along a closed path around zero, after a turn the value of the cube root is multiplied (or divided) by formula_10 Cube roots arise in the problem of finding an angle whose measure is one third that of a given angle (angle trisection) and in the problem of finding the edge of a cube whose volume is twice that of a cube with a given edge (doubling the cube). In 1837 Pierre Wantzel proved that neither of these