How to Square a Number in Java

We can square a number in Java in no less than two different ways. Let have a look on each method one by one.

Method1: Multiplying the Number by Itself

To square a number x, we can multiply the number by itself.

Y = x * x.

Java Program for the above method.

import java.util.Scanner;

public class Square {

    public static int returnSquare(int num) {
        return num*num;
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        Scanner scan = new Scanner(System.in);
        System.out.print("Enter a number: ");

        // This method reads the number provided using keyboard
        int num = scan.nextInt();

        // Closing Scanner after the use
        scan.close();
        
        // Squaring the number
        int square = returnSquare(num);

        // Displaying the Square 
        System.out.println("The Square of the number is : " + square);
    }
}

Output:

Enter a number: 5
The Square of the number is : 25

Method 2: Using the Math.pow() Function

Lets have a look how we can find square of number in java using Math.pow() function.

import java.util.Scanner;
import java.lang.Math;

public class Square {

    public static double returnSquare(double num) {
        return Math.pow(num, 2);
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        Scanner scan = new Scanner(System.in);
        System.out.print("Enter a number: ");

        // This method reads the number provided using keyboard
        double num = scan.nextDouble();

        // Closing Scanner after the use
        scan.close();
        
        // Squaring the number
        double square = returnSquare(num);

        // Displaying the Square 
        System.out.println("The Square of the number is : " + square);
    }
}

Output:

Enter a number: 7
The Square of the number is : 49.0

Here, the advantage of using Math.pow() function is that using it we can extend the program to find any power of the number.

Math.pow(num, 2) for square, Math.pow(num, 3) for cube, Math.pow(num, 8) for num to the power of 8.