If a negative number squared is positive why isn't the square root of a positive number negative?

Don't forget that a positive number squared is also positive.

The rule has nothing to do with whether they're positive or negative. The rule is:

When you multiply two numbers together, if their signs are the same then the product is positive.

If their signs are different, then the product is negative.

When you square a number, the two numbers you're multiplying are the same number,

so their signs are always the same, and the product (the square) is always positive.

Going the other way, you start with a positive number that's the product. Since it's positive,

you know that the two numbers that were multiplied to get it have the same sign ... they

could both be positive, or they could both be negative.

The answer to your question is more weird than you expected: The square root of a positive number

is negative. It's also positive. A positive number has two square roots ... the positive one andnegative one.

Now, the square root of a negative number is something more difficult. No number squared can equal a negative except for what is called imaginary numbers, defined by "i". For example, the square root of -1 is i, and the square root of -2 is (√2)*i.