Roots

Posted by Stan Gorodenski on Nov 15, 2019; 1:53am
URL: http://spssx-discussion.165.s1.nabble.com/Roots-tp5738554.html

I got curious about the imaginary number, the square root of -1.
compute z = (-1)**(1/2).
Of course, that cannot be computed. I then did
compute z = (27)**(1/3).
The number returned was 3, as expected. I did this just to make sure I
had the compute statement right. I then did
compute z = (1)**(1/3).
I got back the number 1 as expected. I then did
compute z = (-1)**(1/3).
I should get back the number -1. Instead I got an error message. Why is
it that SPSS cannot give the right answer?
Stan

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