Basic Geometry : Squares

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Basic Geometry

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Example Questions

Example Question #968 : Basic Geometry

If the diagonal of a square is \displaystyle 9\sqrt2, what is the length of one side of the square?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 9

\displaystyle 18\sqrt2

\displaystyle 18

\displaystyle 9\sqrt2

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 9

Explanation:

The diagonal of a square is also a hypotenuse of a right triangle with the side lengths as legs of the triangle.

1

Use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the length of the diagonal.

\displaystyle \text{Diagonal}=\sqrt{\text{side length}^2+\text{side length}^2}

\displaystyle \text{Diagonal}=\sqrt{2(\text{side length})^2}

\displaystyle \text{Diagonal}=(\text{side length})\sqrt2

\displaystyle \text{Side length}=\frac{\text{Diagonal}}{\sqrt2}

For the square given in the question,

\displaystyle \text{Side length}=\frac{9\sqrt2}{\sqrt{2}}

Simplify.

\displaystyle \text{Side length}=9

Example Question #969 : Basic Geometry

If the diagonal of a square is \displaystyle 88\sqrt2, what is the length of one side of the square?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 88\sqrt2

\displaystyle 176

\displaystyle 88

\displaystyle 44\sqrt2

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 88

Explanation:

The diagonal of a square is also a hypotenuse of a right triangle with the side lengths as legs of the triangle.

1

Use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the length of the diagonal.

\displaystyle \text{Diagonal}=\sqrt{\text{side length}^2+\text{side length}^2}

\displaystyle \text{Diagonal}=\sqrt{2(\text{side length})^2}

\displaystyle \text{Diagonal}=(\text{side length})\sqrt2

\displaystyle \text{Side length}=\frac{\text{Diagonal}}{\sqrt2}

For the square given in the question,

\displaystyle \text{Side length}=\frac{88\sqrt2}{\sqrt{2}}

Simplify.

\displaystyle \text{Side length}=88

Example Question #970 : Basic Geometry

If the diagonal of a square is \displaystyle 97\sqrt2, what is the length of one side of the square?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 67

\displaystyle 157

\displaystyle 196

\displaystyle 97

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 97

Explanation:

The diagonal of a square is also a hypotenuse of a right triangle with the side lengths as legs of the triangle.

1

Use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the length of the diagonal.

\displaystyle \text{Diagonal}=\sqrt{\text{side length}^2+\text{side length}^2}

\displaystyle \text{Diagonal}=\sqrt{2(\text{side length})^2}

\displaystyle \text{Diagonal}=(\text{side length})\sqrt2

\displaystyle \text{Side length}=\frac{\text{Diagonal}}{\sqrt2}

For the square given in the question,

\displaystyle \text{Side length}=\frac{97\sqrt2}{\sqrt{2}}

Simplify.

\displaystyle \text{Side length}=97

Example Question #971 : Plane Geometry

If the diagonal of a square is \displaystyle 12, what is the length of one side of the square?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 6\sqrt2

\displaystyle 6

\displaystyle 12\sqrt2

\displaystyle 12

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 6\sqrt2

Explanation:

The diagonal of a square is also a hypotenuse of a right triangle with the side lengths as legs of the triangle.

1

Use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the length of the diagonal.

\displaystyle \text{Diagonal}=\sqrt{\text{side length}^2+\text{side length}^2}

\displaystyle \text{Diagonal}=\sqrt{2(\text{side length})^2}

\displaystyle \text{Diagonal}=(\text{side length})\sqrt2

\displaystyle \text{Side length}=\frac{\text{Diagonal}}{\sqrt2}

For the square given in the question,

\displaystyle \text{Side length}=\frac{12}{\sqrt{2}}

Multiply the top and bottom of the fraction by one in the form of \displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{2}}{\sqrt{2}}

\displaystyle \text{Side length}=\frac{12}{\sqrt{2}}\times \frac{\sqrt{2}}{\sqrt{2}}

Solve.

\displaystyle \text{Side length}=\frac{12\sqrt2}{2}

Simplify.

\displaystyle \text{Side length}=6\sqrt2

Example Question #972 : Plane Geometry

If the diagonal of a square is \displaystyle 10, what is the length of one side of the square?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 10\sqrt2

\displaystyle 5

\displaystyle 10

\displaystyle 5\sqrt2

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 5\sqrt2

Explanation:

The diagonal of a square is also a hypotenuse of a right triangle with the side lengths as legs of the triangle.

1

Use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the length of the diagonal.

\displaystyle \text{Diagonal}=\sqrt{\text{side length}^2+\text{side length}^2}

\displaystyle \text{Diagonal}=\sqrt{2(\text{side length})^2}

\displaystyle \text{Diagonal}=(\text{side length})\sqrt2

\displaystyle \text{Side length}=\frac{\text{Diagonal}}{\sqrt2}

For the square given in the question,

\displaystyle \text{Side length}=\frac{10}{\sqrt{2}}=\frac{10\sqrt2}{2}=5\sqrt2

Multiply the top and bottom of the fraction by one in the form of \displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{2}}{\sqrt{2}}

\displaystyle \text{Side length}=\frac{10}{\sqrt{2}}\times \frac{\sqrt{2}}{\sqrt{2}}

Silve.

\displaystyle \text{Side length}=\frac{10\sqrt2}{2}

Simplify.

\displaystyle \text{Side length}=5\sqrt2

Example Question #973 : Plane Geometry

Given that the area of a square is \displaystyle 16 cm^2, solve for  the lengths of the sides.

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 9cm

\displaystyle 3cm

\displaystyle 8cm

\displaystyle 4cm

\displaystyle 7cm

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 4cm

Explanation:

To find the answer to this question, the formula for area is needed. 

\displaystyle Area = Side(Side)

Plugging in the numbers, we get:

\displaystyle 16 = Side (Side)

This is also written as 

\displaystyle 16 = Side^2

Take the sqare root of 16, and you get:

\displaystyle 4cm = side

Example Question #311 : Squares

Find the side length of a square given the area is 144.

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 14

\displaystyle 12

\displaystyle 13

\displaystyle 16

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 12

Explanation:

To solve, simply use the formula for the area of a square to solve for side length. Thus,

\displaystyle A=s^2\Rightarrow s=\sqrt{A}

\displaystyle s=\sqrt{144}=12

Example Question #561 : Quadrilaterals

 

Oscar recently built his first home, with a floor plan that is both a perfect square and has an area of \displaystyle 729\;ft^2. What is the length for the sides of Oscar's new home?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 33\;ft

\displaystyle 30\;ft

\displaystyle 21\;ft

\displaystyle 27\;ft

\displaystyle 24\;ft

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 27\;ft

Explanation:

Since both sides of a square are of equal length, we can use this formula to determine the length of both sides.

\displaystyle \\Area=length\cdot length\\ 729\;ft^2=length^2\\length=\sqrt{729\;ft^2}\\length=27\;ft

 

Example Question #563 : Quadrilaterals

A cube has a volume of \displaystyle 512in^3. What is the length of one of the sides of one of its faces?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 8in

\displaystyle 12in

\displaystyle 15in

\displaystyle 10in

\displaystyle 4in

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 8in

Explanation:

The volume of a cube is found by multiplying the width, height, and depth. Since all sides are equal, the formula would look like \displaystyle V=s^3. Since we know the volume, we can take the cube root of that volume to get the individual side length.

\displaystyle 512=s^3

What number cubed equals 512? 8 cubed gives 512.

Example Question #564 : Quadrilaterals

The diagonal of a square is \displaystyle \sqrt{8} centimeters. What is the length of each side?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 6cm

\displaystyle 4 cm

\displaystyle 2 cm

\displaystyle 8cm

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 2 cm

Explanation:

To solve, set up an equation using the Pythagorean Theorem:

\displaystyle x^2 + x^2 = \sqrt{8}^2

\displaystyle x^2 + x^2 = 8

\displaystyle 2x^2 = 8 divide both sides by 2

\displaystyle x^2 = 4 take the square root of both sides

\displaystyle x = 2

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