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sqrt

Description

B = sqrt(X) returns the square root of each element of the array X. For the elements of X that are negative or complex, sqrt(X) produces complex results.

The sqrt function’s domain includes negative and complex numbers, which can lead to unexpected results if used unintentionally. For negative and complex numbers z = u + i*w, the complex square root sqrt(z) returns

sqrt(r)*(cos(phi/2) + 1i*sin(phi/2))

where r = abs(z) is the radius and phi = angle(z) is the phase angle on the closed interval -pi <= phi <= pi.

If you want negative and complex numbers to return error messages rather than return complex results, use realsqrt instead.

example

Examples

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Create a row vector containing both negative and positive values.

X = -2:2
X = 1×5

    -2    -1     0     1     2

Compute the square root of each element of X.

Y = sqrt(X)
Y = 1×5 complex

   0.0000 + 1.4142i   0.0000 + 1.0000i   0.0000 + 0.0000i   1.0000 + 0.0000i   1.4142 + 0.0000i

Input Arguments

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Input array, specified as a numeric scalar, vector, matrix, multidimensional array, table, or timetable.

Data Types: single | double | table | timetable
Complex Number Support: Yes

More About

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IEEE Compliance

For real inputs, sqrt has a few behaviors that differ from those recommended in the IEEE®-754 Standard. In particular, negative inputs produce complex results instead of NaN.

  MATLAB® IEEE

sqrt(-0)

0

-0

sqrt(X) for X < 0

0+sqrt(-X)*i

NaN

Tips

  • See sqrtm for the matrix square root.

Extended Capabilities

Version History

Introduced before R2006a

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See Also

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