Square Root vs. Squared vs. Cube — What's the Difference?
Three related symbols that get mixed up constantly. Here's how to tell them apart, plus copy-paste versions of each.
Squared
Multiply a number by itself once: x × x. Reverses square root.
Square root
Asks "what number, squared, gives x?" The inverse of squaring.
Cubed
Multiply a number by itself twice: x × x × x. Reversed by cube root.
Squared (x²) — the operation
Squaring multiplies a number by itself: 5² = 5 × 5 = 25. It's written with a superscript 2. Full explanation and worked examples are in our "what does squared mean" guide.
Square root (√) — the inverse of squaring
Square root asks the opposite question: which number, multiplied by itself, gives you this result? √25 = 5, because 5² = 25. The symbol √ is called the radical sign. Every positive number has two square roots (one positive, one negative), but the radical symbol by convention returns only the positive one — called the "principal root."
| Expression | Read as | Result |
|---|---|---|
| √4 | "square root of 4" | 2 |
| √9 | "square root of 9" | 3 |
| √16 | "square root of 16" | 4 |
| √2 | "square root of 2" | ≈1.41421 (irrational) |
Cube (x³) and cube root (∛) — one exponent higher
Cubing multiplies a number by itself twice: 3³ = 3 × 3 × 3 = 27. Its inverse, cube root, asks which number cubed gives the result: ∛27 = 3. Unlike square roots, cube roots of negative numbers are real: ∛(−8) = −2, because (−2)³ = −8.
Side-by-side comparison
| Symbol | Name | Unicode | Operation | Inverse of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ² | Squared | U+00B2 | x × x | √ (square root) |
| √ | Square root | U+221A | Inverse of squaring | ² (squared) |
| ³ | Cubed | U+00B3 | x × x × x | ∛ (cube root) |
| ∛ | Cube root | U+221B | Inverse of cubing | ³ (cubed) |