Area of a Square
From Latin: area - "level ground, an open space,"
The number of square units it takes to completely fill a square.
Formula: Width × Height
Try this Drag the orange dots to move and resize the square. As the size of the square
changes, the area is recalculated.
(If there is no image below, see support page.)
Area formula
The area of a square is given by the formula area = width × height But since the width and height are by definition the same,
the formula is usually written as
area = s2
where s is the length of one side.
In strictly correct mathematical wording the formula above should be spoken as "s raised to the power of 2", meaning s is multiplied by itself.
But we usually say it as "s squared". This wording actually comes from the
square. The length of a line s multiplied by itself, creates the square of side s. Hence "s squared".
Try this
- In the figure above, click on "hide details"
- Drag the orange dots on the vertices to make a random-size square.
- Now try to estimate the area of the square just looking at the small unit squares inside it
When you done click "show details" to see how close you got.
Related polygon topics
General
Types of polygon
Area of various polygon types
Perimeter of various polygon types
Angles associated with polygons
Named polygons
(C) 2007 Copyright John Page
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