Calculate Side Length from Square Area: Finding x When Area = 49 cm²

Because area is side × side! If the side were 49 cm, the area would be $49 \times 49 = 2401$ cm², which is way too big. The side length must be smaller than the area value.

You can check by multiplying: $7 \times 7 = 49$. This is a perfect square that you should memorize along with other common ones like $6^2 = 36$, $8^2 = 64$, etc.

Then you'd use a calculator to find the square root, or leave your answer as $\sqrt{area}$. For example, if area = 50 cm², then side length = $\sqrt{50}$ cm ≈ 7.07 cm.

Because side lengths are physical measurements that must be positive! While $(-7)^2 = 49$ too, a side length of -7 cm doesn't make sense in geometry.

Think of it as "side times side" or visualize a square grid. If each side has x units, you get $x \times x = x^2$ square units total.