this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2025
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Science Memes

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[–] rudyharrelson@lemmy.radio 12 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Sounds to me like this is exactly what the OP meme is referencing.

Basic math: square root only of positive numbers and 0.

Advanced math: square root of anything you want

[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

So what’s the square root of your mom then?

[–] rudyharrelson@lemmy.radio 6 points 1 day ago

Damn, hoisted by my own petard.

[–] TwilightKiddy@programming.dev 2 points 22 hours ago (1 children)
[–] m8052@lemmy.world 2 points 14 hours ago

You mean limit of sqrt(x) when x->+inf = +inf

[–] m8052@lemmy.world 0 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

You're missing the point. Math (especially advanced) is about precision and rigor. Writing sqrt of something negative is ambiguous. There are better ways of writing it as explained here https://lemmy.world/comment/18924227

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 4 points 15 hours ago

Except that yes, math is about precision and rigor, and yes, the square root of negative numbers is totally allowed (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_root#Square_roots_of_negative_and_complex_numbers) and yes, math totally allows for statements with multiple solutions.

sin(x) = 0 also has infinite solutions and yet it's totally legal for x to make an equation like that.