Copyright © University of Cambridge. All rights reserved.

'Unusual Long Division - Square Roots Before Calculators' printed from https://nrich.maths.org/

Show menu


The next digit of the answer is 5.

There are a number of ways of exploring around this area, don't rush.

You might try 'trial and improvement' as one way to work towards a square root of say 30, 50 or any other number.

Try this new method to find square roots for 30, 50, etc., then check with a calculator to see that it's working out correctly. Listen again to the audio as many times as you need. There's a lot of calculation to follow.

When you are ready, think about the harder questions:
  • Why multiply by 2 and by 10?

  • And why look for an end digit that is also the digit you use to multiply?