Square Number

When you multiply a whole number (not a fraction) by itself, the result is a square number. For example 3 x 3 = 9. Nine is the square of three multiplied by itself.
As mathematicians often try to shorten the way things are written, we show that we want to square a number by simply writing that number with a small  '2' to the right of it.

Source: 34auburn.weebly.com

Squaring Negative Numbers

As you may know already, if you multiply a negative number by another negative number, it becomes a positive.

Example:  -3 x -3 would become 9 just the same as it would if both the 3’s were positive!

However, if you are multiplying a negative with a positive, like -3 x 3 it would become negative -9 and then, of course, it wouldn’t be a square number (because -3 is a different number to 3)!

Squaring Decimals

Just like whole numbers (integers), it’s easy to square a decimal number too!

1.23 Squared = 1.23 × 1.23 = 1.5129

Square Root

A square root is a number that’s been multiplied to get the square number. For example the square root of 9 is 3 because 3 x 3 = 9.

Finding the square root of a number is much trickier than calculating the square number in the first place, so many calculators have a square root button. This is the one that looks like a tick √. It’s called the radical.


This article was originally published on The edplace. Read the original article.

Source:
https://www.edplace.com/blog/what-are-square-numbers-square-numbers-explained/