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
Doubling the cube was the discovery by Hippocrates of Chios that it is equivalent to finding two mean proportionals between a line segment and another with twice the length. In modern notation, this means that given segments of lengths and , the duplication of the cube is equivalent to finding segments of lengths and so that In turn, this means that But Pierre Wantzel proved in 1837 that the cube root of 2 is not constructible; that is, it cannot be constructed with straightedge and compass. Menaechmus' original solution involves the intersection of two conic curves. Other more complicated methods of doubling the