How do u simplify - 1 + - sqrt - 24

First find the square root of - 24 which would be - 4.898979486 then either subtract 1 or add negative 1, it's the same thing, and that would give you - 5.898979486.

So, the + / - means there are two answers, one that adds the √ (-24) and one that subtracts the √ (-24). You can leave that the way it is as + / -

The negative inside the square root is an imaginary number "i" = √ (-1)

This is whats called a complex number which has the imaginary number "i".

Factor out the imaginary number and any perfect square factors of 24.

24 = 6 * 4

4 is a perfect square of 2, so 2 factors out of the square root.

-1 + / - √ (-24)

-1 + / - i√ (6*2²)

-1 + / - 2i√ (6)