Question

Can you cube root -625?

I may be over thinking this, but you can replace the negative with 'i' which would leave me with cube root 625 in this case which completely simplified would be 5i. I also notice that (-5)*(-5)*(-5) also equals -625, so does
(-5) = 5i?

Answer 1

-5 does not equal 5i but cube roots CAN be negative, no i's necessary in this case. Be careful though, (-5)^3 = -125

Answer 2

Sorry about that, messed up with that problem. One additional question, in which case can roots not be negative though? Also thank you (:

Answer 3

Draw a factor tree (using the absolute value) to find the correct roots.
Remember when multiplying or dividing that an even number of negatives give a positive answer and an odd number of negatives gives a negative answer.
Answers to a negative cube root can be 1 neg and 2 pos or 3 neg.

Answer 4

Even roots (e.g. square root, 4th root, 6 root, etc.) are positive (non-negative if you include 0) while odd roots can be either positive or negative.

Answer 5

Ahh, thank you very much both of you.