What is the area of a hexagon whose perimeter is 24 feet?

2 Answers
Mar 17, 2018

See a solution process below:

Explanation:

Assuming this is a regular hexagon (all 6 sides have the same length) then the formula for the perimeter of a hexagon is:

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Substituting 24 feet for P and solving for a gives:

24"ft" = 6a

(24"ft")/color(red)(6) = (6a)/color(red)(6)

4"ft" = (color(red)(cancel(color(black)(6)))a)/cancel(color(red)(6))

4"ft" = a

a = 4"ft"

Now we can use the value for a to find the area of the hexagon. The formula for the area of a hexagon is:

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Substituting 4"ft" for a and calculating A gives:

A = (3sqrt(3))/2(4"ft")^2

A = (3sqrt(3))/2 16"ft"^2

A = 3sqrt(3) * 8"ft"^2

A = 24sqrt(3)"ft"^2

or

A ~= 41.569"ft"^2

Mar 17, 2018

24 sqrt3 = 41.57 square feet

Explanation:

We need to assume that it is a regular hexagon - meaning that all the six sides and angles are equal,

If the perimeter is 24 feet, then each side is 24/6 = 4 feet

A hexagon is the only polygon which is made up of equilateral triangles.

In this hexagon, the sides of the hexagon and therefore the sides of the triangles are all 4 feet and the angles are each 60°

Using the trig Area formula, A = 1/2ab sin C, we can calculate the area of the hexagon as:

A = 6 xx 1/2 xx4xx4xxsin60°

= 48 sin 60°

= 48 xx sqrt3/2

=24 sqrt3

If you calculate it you will get 41.57 " feet"^2