The square root of a number is a value which is equal to the number, when multiplied by itself. In this guide, we're going to show you how to find square root in Excel using two different methods.
How to find square root using the SQRT function
Excel's SQRT function can calculate and return the square root of a specified number. The function is very easy-to-use and only requires a single argument - the number for which you want to find the square root.
Let's see how the function works on an example. To calculate the square root of 25, you can use a function like the following:
"Manual" square root calculation
To calculate the square root of a number "manually", you can use the exponential version instead (i.e. 251/2). You can apply this same idea in Excel using a formula like below.
The caret symbol (^) in the formula represents the exponentiation operation. For example, 5 ^ 2 equals 25. On the other hand, using a fraction after the caret symbol (^) represents rational exponents.
In the light of this information, we can calculate the nth root of a number by placing n into rational exponent. For example;
= 16^(1/2)
= 125^(1/3)
Calculating cube root of a number
After understanding the logic behind rational exponents, calculating the cube or nth root of a number is just as easy. Also, keep in mind that Excel doesn't have a dedicated function to calculate the cube root.
This application is the same as described in the "manual" method: enter an n value into the fraction to find the nth root of a specified number. For the cube root calculation, you need to set n as 3. Thus, the formula to find the cube root of 216 would be something like below.
