500 square inches is about 3.47 square feet (500 ÷ 144). It describes area, not a single length. For example, all of these rectangles have 500 square inches of area:
| Width × length | Area |
|---|---|
| 10 × 50 in | 500 sq in |
| 20 × 25 in | 500 sq in |
| 12.5 × 40 in | 500 sq in |
A square with the same area would be about 22.36 × 22.36 inches. For another reference, five U.S. Letter sheets cover 467.5 square inches in total, so 500 square inches is about 1.07 times that area. Shape and orientation still matter. See U.S. paper size dimensions for Letter, Legal, Tabloid and A4 measurements.