Square Number — 4² = 16 — free printable diagram

What is 4 squared?

4 squared is 16. Squaring a number means multiplying it by itself, so 4² = 4 × 4 = 16. Read the other way round, the square root of 16 is 4.

Calculation

4² = 4 × 4

Answer

16

In words

sixteen

Square root

√16 = 4

Position

the 4th square number

• Squaring means multiplying a number by itself, so 4² = 4 × 4 = 16.
• 16 is called a square number because 16 counters can be arranged in a perfect square of 4 rows with 4 in each row.
• The opposite of squaring is taking the square root, so √16 = 4.
• 4 squared is not 4 × 2. 4 × 2 = 8, but 4² = 16.
• Each square number is the odd numbers added up in order: 16 − 9 = 7, so the gap from 9 to 16 is 7.