square roots

[Joka74]

here is my issue im trying to get into college and i need to learn a lot of things in math although some how I passed everything but want to test out in math.... the only course i hit mid level at. I need to brush up on algebra and its talking alot about irrational numbers and all of that and square roots but i cant remember how to do them and there seems to be a ton of ways and most i dont understand and no way to ask anyone about them. i need exact answers and not approximations because it is for school and what im doing is dealing with alot of non perfect numbers like the square root of 122.... how do i do this in simple but detailed terms terms so that i can find the square roots of any number quickly and easily??? once i get it i wont forget it but getting it seems to be difficult on this subject for some reason. Thanks

[Jim@StratusPrep]

Can you give an example of how a problem where you need exact answers? This will help frame the answer.

[Joka74]

yes and thank you cuz i just dont get it... i see the break downs and pairing numbers but i dont get where they get the numbers from...

[Joka74]

if i gave you a number like 122 i know its eleven point something. i need to figure out how to go in tenths, hundredths and beyond but i dont know what to do especially if the numbers get bigger... usually the ones i end up having to do always come out to decimals after the whole number.... 468393 is a random number but i wouldnt know how to get the square root of it.... (im hoping that this wouldnt work out to a perfectly whole number lol. i need it to end up with decimals but to be honest i dont even know how to go about getting it even if it is a whole number...) the things that i keep seeing and i dont know if it is even the fastest or most efficient way of getting the answer is you put 4 68 93 together in pairs then you put lines around it and put a 2 to the left of it and i think a 2 above it and then im lost. not sure why a 2 in either place or if it is always a 2but its usually what i see in looking for how to do this. is this the best way or do you have a better more faster simple way of doing it???