Quick: What's 19 2...without your calculator? (361.) Squaring complex, two-digit numbers in your head isn't that difficult if you know a simple trick, according to the Secrets of Mental Math author ...
Squaring — multiplying a number by itself — seems harmless, but repeat it long enough and it becomes a mathematical explosion. What begins as 2² quickly turns into 2⁴, 2⁸, 2¹⁶ — racing past the limits ...