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First, divide the number to be square-rooted into pairs of digits, starting at the decimal point. That is, no digit pair should straddle a decimal point. (For example, split 46656 into "4 66 56")
Then you can put some lines over each digit pair, and a bar to the left, somewhat as in long division.
+--- ---- ---- | 4 66 56
Find the largest number whose square is less than or equal to the leading digit pair. In this case, the leading digit pair is 4; the largest number whose square is less than or equal to 4 is 2.
2 1 6 +--- ---- ---- 2 | 4 66 56 |-4 +---- 41 | 0 66 |- 41 +-------- 426 | 25 56 |- 25 56 +------------- 0
When the difference is zero, you have an exact square root and you're done. Otherwise, you can keep finding more decimal places for as long as you want.
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