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There are 22 NRICH Mathematical resources connected to Square numbers, you may find related items under Properties of numbers.
Broad Topics > Properties of numbers > Square numbersAre these statements always true, sometimes true or never true?
Look at what happens when you take a number, square it and subtract your answer. What kind of number do you get? Can you prove it?
Each light in this interactivity turns on according to a rule. What happens when you enter different numbers? Can you find the smallest number that lights up all four lights?
Imagine a pyramid which is built in square layers of small cubes. If we number the cubes from the top, starting with 1, can you picture which cubes are directly below this first cube?
One block is needed to make an up-and-down staircase, with one step up and one step down. How many blocks would be needed to build an up-and-down staircase with 5 steps up and 5 steps down?
Think of a number, square it and subtract your starting number. Is the number you're left with odd or even? How do the images help to explain this?
Nine squares with side lengths 1, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, and 18 cm can be fitted together to form a rectangle. What are the dimensions of the rectangle?
Can you make a cycle of pairs that add to make a square number using all the numbers in the box below, once and once only?
Can you make square numbers by adding two prime numbers together?
Mrs Morgan, the class's teacher, pinned numbers onto the backs of three children. Use the information to find out what the three numbers were.
The discs for this game are kept in a flat square box with a square hole for each. Use the information to find out how many discs of each colour there are in the box.
Cut differently-sized square corners from a square piece of paper to make boxes without lids. Do they all have the same volume?
This activity creates an opportunity to explore all kinds of number-related patterns.
Use cubes to continue making the numbers from 7 to 20. Are they sticks, rectangles or squares?
Complete the magic square using the numbers 1 to 25 once each. Each row, column and diagonal adds up to 65.
Does a graph of the triangular numbers cross a graph of the six times table? If so, where? Will a graph of the square numbers cross the times table too?
Add the sum of the squares of four numbers between 10 and 20 to the sum of the squares of three numbers less than 6 to make the square of another, larger, number.
In 1871 a mathematician called Augustus De Morgan died. De Morgan made a puzzling statement about his age. Can you discover which year De Morgan was born in?
Find another number that is one short of a square number and when you double it and add 1, the result is also a square number.
Can you use this information to work out Charlie's house number?
Look at the squares in this problem. What does the next square look like? I draw a square with 81 little squares inside it. How long and how wide is my square?
These squares have been made from Cuisenaire rods. Can you describe the pattern? What would the next square look like?