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A square has a perimeter of 32 inches. How long is the diagonal?

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Final answer:

To find the diagonal of a square, use the Pythagorean theorem. In this case, the length of the diagonal is approximately 11.31 inches.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the length of the diagonal of a square, we can use the Pythagorean theorem. The Pythagorean theorem states that in a right triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.

In a square, the diagonal is the hypotenuse of a right triangle formed by the two sides. Let's call the side length of the square 's' and the length of the diagonal 'd'.

Using the Pythagorean theorem, we have:

d^2 = s^2 + s^2 = 2s^2

The perimeter of a square is given by 4s, and we are given that the perimeter is 32 inches. So we can set up the equation:

4s = 32

From this equation, we can solve for 's':

s = 8

Now, substitute the value of 's' back into the equation for the diagonal:

d^2 = 2(8)^2 = 128

Taking the square root of both sides,

d = sqrt(128)

Therefore, the length of the diagonal is approximately 11.31 inches.

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