What is the positive and negative square roots of 256?

The positive square root of 256 is 16 because 16 multiplied by 16 equals 256. The negative square root of 256 is -16 because -16 multiplied by -16 also equals 256. In general, for any positive number x, the square roots of x are both a positive and a negative number, with the positive square root being the principal square root.