Final answer:
To find the length of each side of a square patio with an area of 212 square feet, we calculate the square root of 212, which is approximately 14.56 feet, and round it to the nearest 0.05 feet to get 14.55 feet. Hence, the correct answer is (b) 14.55 feet.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question involves finding the length of each side of a square patio given its area. To find the side length, we take the square root of the area. The formula for the area of a square is Area = side ². Therefore, to find the length of the side, we use the square root operation on the area of the square. The given area is 212 square feet.
√(212 sq ft) = side length of the patio
The exact calculation gives us a decimal value. We then round it to the nearest 0.05 feet to find the closest answer option.
Let's calculate:
Exact side length = √(212) ≈ 14.56 feet.
Rounding to the nearest 0.05 feet gives 14.55 feet or 14.60 feet.
Comparing this with the answer options provided, option (b) 14.55 feet is the correct answer, since it is the value of the exact calculation rounded to the nearest 0.05 feet.