Square root of number

Generic formula

=SQRT(number)

Related formulas

Cube root of number

nth root of number

Explanation

To get the square root of a number, you can use the SQRT function. In the example shown, the formula in C5 is:

=SQRT(B5)

How this function works

The SQRT function is fully automatic and will return the square root of any positive number. If for some reason you need to get the square root of a negative number (i.e. treat the negative number like a positive number) you can wrap the number in the ABS function like this:

=SQRT(ABS(A1))

Other methods

You can get the square root with the POWER function by using 1/2 as the power argument:

=POWER(A1,1/2)

You can get the square root without any functions, using the caret (^) with 1/2 as the exponent:

=A1^(1/2)