PSAT Math : How to find the length of the side of a square
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Example Question #1 :How To Find The Length Of The Side Of A Square
The area of square R is 12 times the area of square T. If the area of square R is 48, what is the length of one side of square T?
16
1
4
2
2
We start by dividing the area of square R (48) by 12, to come up with the area of square T, 4. Then take the square root of the area to get the length of one side, giving us 2.
Example Question #2 :How To Find The Length Of The Side Of A Square
When the side of a certain square is increased by 2 inches, the area of the resulting square is 64 sq. inches greater than the original square. What is the length of the side of the original square, in inches?
18
15
14
17
16
15
Let x represent the length of the original square in inches. Thus the area of the original square is x2. Two inches are added to x, which is represented by x+2. The area of the resulting square is (x+2)2. We are given that the new square is 64 sq. inches greater than the original. Therefore we can write the algebraic expression:
x2+ 64 = (x+2)2
FOIL the right side of the equation.
x2+ 64 = x2+ 4x + 4
Subtract x2from both sides and then continue with the alegbra.
64 = 4x + 4
64 = 4(x + 1)
16 = x + 1
15 = x
Therefore, the length of the original square is 15 inches.
If you plug in the answer choices, you would need to add 2 inches to the value of the answer choice and then take the difference of two squares. The choice with 15 would be correct because 172-152= 64.
Example Question #3 :How To Find The Length Of The Side Of A Square
If the area of a square is 25 inches squared, what is the perimeter?
25
15
20
10
Not enough information
20
The area of a square is equal to length times width or length squared (since length and width are equal on a square). Therefore, the length of one side is
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