Simplify square root of -169

$\sqrt{- 169}$

Step 1

Rewrite $- 169$ as $- 1 (169)$ .

$\sqrt{- 1 (169)}$

Step 2

Rewrite $\sqrt{- 1 (169)}$ as $\sqrt{- 1} \cdot \sqrt{169}$ .

$\sqrt{- 1} \cdot \sqrt{169}$

Step 3

Rewrite $\sqrt{- 1}$ as $i$ .

$i \cdot \sqrt{169}$

Step 4

Rewrite $169$ as $13^{2}$ .

$i \cdot \sqrt{13^{2}}$

Step 5

Pull terms out from under the radical, assuming positive real numbers.

$i \cdot 13$

Step 6

Move $13$ to the left of $i$ .

$13 i$