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Mathematical operationWhat it is Example

Square roots

The square root finds what number multiplied by itself equals a given value. The symbol is Note: Square and square root are opposite (inverse) operations.

= 12.253.5, which can be read as “The square root of 12.25 is 3.5.”

Cubes

Using technology

To cube a number means to multiply it by itself three times. The name cube is used because this is the calculation needed to find the volume of a cube. The symbol is the digit 3, written as a superscript.

53 = 5 × 5 × 5 = 125, which can be read as “5 cubed is 125”.

This table shows how the common operations from above are represented in spreadsheets such as Excel. These are important symbols and terms when you use spreadsheets to do calculations, especially with larger sets of numbers or data.