An Easy Guide to Square a Number in Excel2 Simple Methods

Written By:
Adiste Mae
Reviewed By:
FundsNet Staff

Finding simplicity and convenience with spreadsheets like Excel has now become easy.

We can now determine squares of numbers at a single point in time, from small to overwhelming numbers.

There are two easy methods to square a number in Excel:

  • By a Formula
  • By a Function

Don’t worry!

These methods can be done in just a snap and both methods work in the same way.

This tutorial will demonstrate how to use both methods shown above to find the square of a number using Excel.

Squaring a Number in Excel in Two Easy Tricks

 Take a look at the following dataset to understand squaring numbers in Excel quickly:

To determine the square of each of the values above shown in column A and the result in column B, let’s take a closer look at how to do this in Excel.

Square a Number by Formula

Squaring a number is very simple.

Just take a number, multiply it by itself or raise it to the power of 2.

Based on the above example, the formula can be written in two ways:

  • Multiply it by itself using the multiplication operator
  • Raise the number to the power of 2 using the caret operator 

Using the Multiplication Operator

In Excel, the arithmetic operator “asterisk” (*) is known as the multiplication symbol.

Use the formula to multiply the value in cell A2 by itself using this:

=A2*A2

Accordingly, follow the steps below to determine the square of each number in our given dataset:

  1.   Select the cell you want to display the result (Cell B2).
  2.   Input the formula =A2*A2.
  3.   Press the enter key.
  4.   The result in cell B2 is now the square in A2.
  5.   Drag the fill handle to the last row of your data.
  6.   The square of each value in column A should now be displayed on the corresponding cells in column B.

Using the Caret Operator

The exponentiation operator “caret” (^) is known as the exponent symbol in Excel.

Use the formula below to square the value in cell A2 by raising it to the power of 2:

=A2^2

Accordingly, follow the steps below to determine the square of each number based on the dataset given:

  1.   Select where you wish to display the result (Cell B2).
  2.   Type the formula =A2^2.
  3.   Press the enter key.
  4.   The result in cell B2 will show the square of the value in A2.
  5.   Drag the fill handle down to the last row of your data.
  6.   The square of each value in column A should now be displayed on the corresponding cells in column B.

Using a Power Function to Square a Number

Raising a number to a specific power is also one of Excel’s useful functions.

The POWER function works just like the exponent used in a math equation and raises one number to the power of another number.

The syntax used for the POWER function is shown below:

=POWER(number,power)

Where:

  • Number = corresponds to the number that you wish to raise to an exponent.
  • Power =  the exponent you wish to raise the number to the power of.

Therefore, to find the square of a number using the POWER function, you have to raise it to the power of 2 as shown below:

=POWER(A2,2)

Accordingly, follow the following steps below to determine the square of each number based on the given data:

  1.   Select the cell you want to display the result (Cell B2).
  2.   Type the formula =POWER(A2,2).
  3.   Press the enter key.
  4.   The result in cell B2 is now the square of the value taken from A2.
  5.   Drag the fill handle down to the last row of your data.
  6.   The square of each value in column A should now be displayed on the corresponding cells in column B.

Note: The POWER function can be found in the Formulas tab with the Math & Trig functions (under Function Library).

It should be below the Select a Category drop-down list if you’re in the Insert Function dialog box.

This tutorial has demonstrated how to use the above methods to find the square of a number in Excel using three easy and quick methods.