Why is the square ft of a square 20x20 larger than the square ft of a rectangle 10x30?

Answer 1

The area of rectangles (including squares) is given by length x width.

for the square 20 x 20, its area is 20 x 20 = 400

For the rectangle 10 x 30, its area is 10 x 30 = 300

If the shapes are divided up into 10 x 10 squares, it can be seen that the square has four of them, where as the rectangle will only have three:

.................................................

......20 x 20..........10 x 30..........

.....---------.......-------------....

.....|.....|.....|......|.....|.....|.....|....

.....|.....|.....|......|.....|.....|.....|....

.....|---+---|......-------------....

.....|.....|.....|..............................

.....|.....|.....|..Each little square..

.....---------.......is 10 x 10.........

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