| Interesting Math History |
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| Question : |
How did the sign  for Roots originate ? |
Answer : |
The
word root originates from the word radix in Latin. Around 1525
they began to abbreviate it with the letter.
The Arab writers used various symbols for expressing a root,
including sign  which they wrote on right side,
but none of them seem to have
influenced European writers. |
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symbol
first appeared in print of Rudolff's Coss in 1525.
Rudolff used this sign because it resembled a small r, for radix (root).
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In the 17th century our common square-root sign was generally adopted, with many variants.
By the close of the 17th century this symbol was
standardised, although there still remained some work to be done.
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