Francis makes two square pans of cornbread. He cuts one pan into 13 more pieces than the other pan. How many equal-size squares of cornbread does he cut in each pan?

Answer 1

Make a list of square numbers (don't go too far with your list, maybe up to 10 x 10, just for practice):

1 x 1

2 x 2

3 x 3, etc.

First 10 square numbers are: 1, 4, 9 . . .

Now, find two square numbers that have a difference of 13

You don't have to go far at all to see that pan 1 is cut into 36 small squares and pan 2 is cut into 49 small squares (49 - 36 = 13)