The area of a square with side length s is s^2. Which expression represents the area?

• A. s^2
• B. s^3
• C. 2s
• D. sqrt(s)

Answer: (A)

The area of a square comes from multiplying its length by its width. Since both sides are s, the area is s × s = s^2. This matches the idea that an area grows with the square of the side length, so s^2 is the expression that represents the area. For a quick check, if s = 3, the area is 9, which is s^2, not s^3 (27), nor 2s (6), nor sqrt(s) (~1.73).