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css function

`sqrt()` CSS function

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The sqrt() CSS function is an exponential function that returns the square root of a number.

The function pow(x, 0.5) is equivalent to sqrt(x).

Syntax

/* A <number> value */
width: calc(100px * sqrt(9)); /*  300px */
width: calc(100px * sqrt(25)); /*  500px */
width: calc(100px * sqrt(100)); /* 1000px */

Parameters

The sqrt(x) function accepts only one value as its parameter.

  • x
    • : A calculation which resolves to a &lt;number&gt; greater than or equal to 0.

Return value

Returns a &lt;number&gt; which is the square root of x.

  • if x is +∞, the result is +∞.
  • If x is 0⁻, the result is 0⁻.
  • If x is less than 0, the result is NaN.

Formal syntax

Examples

Scale sizes based on square root

This example shows how you can use the sqrt() function to calculate sizes.

HTML

<div class="boxes">
  <div class="box">50px</div>
  <div class="box one">100px</div>
  <div class="box two">150px</div>
  <div class="box three">200px</div>
</div>

CSS

Here we are using CSS custom properties to define the sizes to be used. First, we declare the first size (--size-0), which is then used to calculate the other sizes.

  • --size-1 is calculated by multiplying the value of --size-0 (50px) by the square root of 4 (2), which results in 100px.
  • --size-2 is calculated by multiplying the value of --size-0 (50px) by the square root of 9 (3), which results in 150px.
  • --size-3 is calculated by multiplying the value of --size-0 (50px) by the square root of 16 (4), which results in 200px.
:root {
  --size-0: 50px;
  --size-1: calc(var(--size-0) * sqrt(4)); /*  100px */
  --size-2: calc(var(--size-0) * sqrt(9)); /*  150px */
  --size-3: calc(var(--size-0) * sqrt(16)); /*  200px */
}

.boxes {
  display: flex;
  flex-wrap: wrap;
  justify-content: space-around;
}

.box {
  width: var(--size-0);
  height: var(--size-0);
  background-color: tomato;
  color: white;
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
}

The sizes are then applied as the width and height values of the selectors.

.one {
  width: var(--size-1);
  height: var(--size-1);
}
.two {
  width: var(--size-2);
  height: var(--size-2);
}
.three {
  width: var(--size-3);
  height: var(--size-3);
}

Result

Interactive exampleOpen the canonical MDN source to run this embedded demo.

Specifications

SpecificationsStandards references are available on the canonical MDN page.

Browser compatibility

Browser compatibilityCompatibility data is available on the canonical MDN page.

See also