How do you find the square root of 5 to the 4th power?

2 Answers

It is sqrt(5^4)=5^2=25

Sep 14, 2015

The question is slightly ambiguous, but both (sqrt(5))^4 and sqrt(5^4) are equal to 25

Explanation:

(a^b)^c = a^(bc) for a, b, c >= 0

So:
(sqrt(5))^4 = ((sqrt(5))^2)^2 = 5^2 = 25

Also:
sqrt(5^4) = sqrt((5^2)^2) = 5^2 = 25

Alternatively using fractional exponents:

sqrt(a) = a^(1/2)

So:
(sqrt(5))^4 = (5^(1/2))^4 = 5^(1/2 * 4) = 5^2 = 25

and:
sqrt(5^4) = (5^4)^(1/2) = 5^(4*1/2) = 5^2 = 25