Since the side length is a length, it will be positive and not negative, so we solve this equation for s by taking the positive square root of both sides of the equation. We get that s = 12, so the side length of a square with an area of 144 square feet is 12 feet.While -12 is "a square root" of 144, the square root operation here denotes a function from nonnegative real numbers to nonnegative real numbers. A function can only produce a single result. So the expression √144 evaluates to the positive root 12.Because one square foot is 144 square inches, divide the total number of square inches by 144.
