Cube root some contexts, particularly when the number whose cube root is to be taken is a real number, one of the cube roots (in this particular case the real one) is referred to as the "principal cube root", denoted with the radical sign . The cube root operation is associative with exponentiation and distributive with multiplication and division if considering only real numbers, but not always if considering complex numbers: for example, the cube of any cube root of 8 is 8, but the three cube roots of 8 are 8, −4 + 4"i", and −4 − 4"i". The cube roots
Principal root of unity Principal root of unity In mathematics, a principal "n"-th root of unity (where "n" is a positive integer) of a ring is an element formula_1 satisfying the equations In an integral domain, every primitive "n"-th root of unity is also a principal formula_3-th root of unity. In any ring, if formula_3 is a power of formula_5, then any formula_6-th root of formula_7 is a principal formula_3-th root of unity. A non-example is formula_9 in the ring of integers modulo formula_10; while formula_11 and thus formula_9 is a cube root of unity, formula_13 meaning that it is not a "principal" cube