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Re perfect squares

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mohill | 10:21 Sat 04th Feb 2006 | Quizzes & Puzzles
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Hi Quizmonster and Andy Cheever.


These questions are not pinpricking or smarty. I need elucidation for no other reason than that I am curious.


If 36 is the square of 6, as it is, why does it need to be termed a perfect square? It is already a square.


36 is also the square of -6, so why define a perfect square as the square of a positive integer and not just the square of any integer.


Is zero a perfect square or for that matter, a square root?


1.2 squared is 1.44 and also -1.2 squared is 1.44. May 1.44 be termed a perfect square, or must we be dealing with integers, and then only positive integers for the square root?


I can see that every number has a square root but most do not have a rational square root that may be expressed fully; eg square root of 3 is 1.73205...


So is the use of the term perfect an indication that the square root is integral or integral and positive or perhaps not integral but rational?

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I don't know about Cheever, but you've scared the hell out of me, Mohill! I just happened to know the answer to your original question, but I'm no mathematician, having scraped through my maths exam by the skin of my teeth exactly 50 years ago!
I hope Cheever or someone else knowledgeable comes along soon. Cheers

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