Expand a productAlgebramedium
Expand $(x + 3)(x - 5)$.
Contributor guide
Writing exercises
No code needed. Fill in the form, write your maths between dollar signs, and publish. Here's everything you need.
Go to the Contribute formHow it works
- Open the Account page and log in. (An admin gives you a contributor account.)
- Click Contribute in the top menu.
- Fill in the form below.
- Check the live preview under the problem box.
- Click Publish exercise — it's live for students straight away.
The form, field by field
| Field | What to put |
|---|---|
| Title | A short name students see as the heading, e.g. Solve a linear equation. |
| Topic | Subject area — Algebra, Geometry, etc. It becomes a filter automatically, so keep spelling consistent. |
| Grade | The grade/year it suits, as a number. |
| Difficulty | easy, medium, or hard — your judgement. |
| Type | Multiple choice, Numeric, or Open (see below). |
| Statement | The question. Maths goes between $ … $. |
| Solution | A clear worked explanation shown after the student answers. Always include it. |
| Figure | Optional image (great for geometry). Pick a file, add a short description, and it appears under the statement. See “Adding a figure” below. |
Choosing the type
Three kinds of exercise, and when to use each.
| Multiple choice | You give 2–4 options and mark which is right. Important: the “correct option number” counts from 0 — first option is 0, second is 1, and so on. |
| Numeric | The student types a number; the site marks it automatically. Enter the answer as a plain number (0.5, not 1/2; 36, not 36 cm). Tolerance is how far off still counts — 0.001 for exact answers, widen to 0.01 if rounding is involved. |
| Open | No auto-marking — the student reveals your worked solution. Good for “explain” or “prove” questions. Note: open questions don't appear in tests, so prefer the other two when you can. |
Writing the mathematics
Wrap any maths in single dollar signs: $ … $. Plain words go outside. For example, typing Solve for $x$: $2x + 3 = 11$. shows as:
Solve for $x$: $2x + 3 = 11$.
i
Type maths normally, with one backslash — exactly like a textbook (
\frac{1}{2}, \sqrt{x}). The form handles any technical escaping for you. The live preview confirms it before you publish.
Cheat sheet
| What you want | Type this | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Fraction one-half | \frac{1}{2} | $\frac{1}{2}$ |
| Bigger, clearer fraction | \dfrac{1}{2} | $\dfrac{1}{2}$ |
| x squared | x^2 | $x^2$ |
| Multi-digit power (needs braces) | x^{10} | $x^{10}$ |
| Subscript | x_1 | $x_1$ |
| Square root | \sqrt{x} | $\sqrt{x}$ |
| Cube / nth root | \sqrt[3]{x} | $\sqrt[3]{x}$ |
| Multiply | \times or \cdot | $\times$ $\cdot$ |
| Divide | \div | $\div$ |
| Plus-or-minus | \pm | $\pm$ |
| Not equal | \ne | $\ne$ |
| Less / greater or equal | \le \ge | $\le$ $\ge$ |
| Approximately | \approx | $\approx$ |
| Degrees | 30^\circ | $30^\circ$ |
| Percent (backslash required) | \% | $\%$ |
| Pi | \pi | $\pi$ |
| Greek letters | \alpha \beta \theta | $\alpha\ \beta\ \theta$ |
| Angle | \angle | $\angle$ |
| Absolute value | |x| | $|x|$ |
| Trig (kept upright) | \sin(30^\circ) | $\sin(30^\circ)$ |
| Units inside maths | 12\text{ cm} | $12\text{ cm}$ |
| Auto-sized brackets | \left( \dfrac{a}{b} \right) | $\left( \dfrac{a}{b} \right)$ |
Curly braces { } group things — x^{10} gives $x^{10}$ but x^10 gives $x^10$. If the preview looks wrong, it's almost always a missing } or a missing $.
Adding a figure
Figures are ideal for geometry — a labelled triangle, a circle, a coordinate grid — and for anything easier to show than to describe. Attaching one is simple; the harder part is making the image, so there's a guide for that below.
How to attach it
- On the Contribute form, use the Figure (optional) picker to choose an image from your device.
- A preview appears. Add a short description (this is required — see “Write a good description” below).
- Publish as normal. The figure shows under the problem statement in practice and in tests.
One figure per exercise, up to 5 MB. For which format to choose, see below.
Which format — prefer SVG for diagrams
SVG is the best choice for anything drawn — geometry figures, graphs, coordinate diagrams. It stays perfectly crisp at any size and on any screen, and the files are tiny (often just a few kilobytes). Use PNG or JPG only for things that aren't line drawings: photographs, screenshots, or a hand-drawn figure you've photographed. You upload an SVG exactly like any other image — just pick the .svg file. Squared automatically cleans SVG files on upload, so there's nothing extra for you to do.
How to make the image
You don't draw inside Squared — you make the figure in a free tool, save it as an image, and upload that. Pick whichever fits:
| Tool | Best for | How to export |
|---|---|---|
| GeoGebra geogebra.org |
Geometry constructions, function graphs, coordinate diagrams. The go-to for most maths figures. | Build the figure, then Menu → Download → SVG (PNG also available). SVG keeps it crisp. |
| Desmos desmos.com |
Function and data graphs; quick, clean plots. | Share icon → Export image → Download SVG (or PNG). |
| Excalidraw excalidraw.com |
Quick hand-drawn-style sketches, diagrams, and annotations. | Select your drawing → Export image → SVG (tick a background so it isn't transparent). |
| PowerPoint / Google Drawings | Diagrams from shapes and text boxes, if you already know these tools. | PowerPoint: select shapes → right-click → Save as Picture → SVG. Drawings: File → Download → SVG. |
| Paper + phone | A quick sketch when nothing else is handy. | Draw neatly in dark pen on white paper, photograph it in good light, crop tightly, and upload as PNG/JPG (a photo can't be SVG). |
Quality tips
- For PNG/JPG, export at roughly twice the display size (~1000 px wide) so it stays sharp on phones. SVG is already sharp at any size.
- Use a white background, not transparent, so labels stay readable on the page.
- Make lines and labels bold and large — they need to be legible on a small screen.
- Crop tightly to the figure; trim empty margins and anything unrelated.
- Upload only figures you made yourself — don't upload scans from textbooks or images from the web.
Write a good description (alt text)
The description is read aloud to students using a screen reader, and shows if the image ever fails to load — so make it genuinely describe the figure, not just name it. Prefer “Right triangle with legs 6 cm and 8 cm and a right angle at C” over “triangle”. If the figure contains information needed to solve the problem (measurements, labels), put that information in the description too.
Worked examples
What you enter on the left; what students see on the right.
Multiple choice
Statement
Expand $(x + 3)(x - 5)$.Options
$x^2 - 2x - 15$ · $x^2 + 2x - 15$ · $x^2 - 15$Correct option number
0Solution
FOIL: $x^2 - 5x + 3x - 15 = x^2 - 2x - 15$.Students see
Numeric
Statement
A triangle has base $12\text{ cm}$ and height $5\text{ cm}$. Find its area in $\text{cm}^2$.Answer
30 Tolerance 0.01Solution
Area $= \tfrac{1}{2} \times 12 \times 5 = 30$.Students see
Area of a triangleGeometryeasy
A triangle has base $12\text{ cm}$ and height $5\text{ cm}$. Find its area in $\text{cm}^2$.
Open
Statement
A fair die is rolled once. Explain how to find the probability of an even number, and give the result.Solution
Even outcomes are $2, 4, 6$ — three of six equally likely results, so the probability is $\tfrac{3}{6} = \tfrac{1}{2}$.Students see
Even number on a dieProbabilityeasy
A fair die is rolled once. Explain how to find the probability of an even number, and give the result.
SolutionEven outcomes are $2, 4, 6$ — three of six equally likely results, so the probability is $\tfrac{3}{6} = \tfrac{1}{2}$.
Before you publish
- The statement is self-contained — solvable without extra context.
- Units (cm, kg…) are in the statement, not in the numeric answer box.
- For multiple choice, the correct option number matches the right option (counting from 0).
- For numeric, the answer is a plain number and the tolerance suits any rounding.
- The solution explains how, not just the final answer.
- The live preview shows the maths correctly.
- Any figure is sharp, tightly cropped, and has a description that includes measurements needed to solve it.