Make Math a Game

What is a square?

When a number is multiplied by itself, the result is called the square of that number.
For example, 3 * 3 = 9.  This is the same as saying 3 squared, or written with an exponent as 3², and 9 is called the square of 3. This type of calculation is used frequently in math.  Many formulas and calculations require multiplying a number by itself.  It can be useful to have the squares of some basic numbers in memory to help with estimations and to help understand the way the squares get bigger quickly.

Here are some basic squares – take a few minutes to learn some of these by heart.  You will use them more often than you think.

A cube is similar to a square, but you multiply the number by itself a third time to get the cube.
For example: 3 * 3 * 3 = 27, so 27 is the cube of 3.  The exponent looks like 3³. It is also useful to know a few of these, take a minute and learn some of the cubes below.