Question

Rosy bought 384 pieces of square-shaped tiles. She wanted to tile the dining floor of square shape. When she calculated the area, there was a shortage of some tiles. Find the number of tiles that were short.

A. 16
B. 24
C. 32
D. 40

Answer 1

Rosy's tile shortage for her square floor is calculated by finding the closest perfect square number greater than 384, which is 400. The shortage is 400 - 384 = 16 tiles.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student's question addresses a problem involving square numbers and area computation. Rosy bought 384 square-shaped tiles to tile a square floor, which suggests that the number of tiles needed to cover the floor should also form a square number.

Since 384 is not a perfect square, we need to find the closest square number that is greater than 384 to determine how many tiles are short. The closest perfect square greater than 384 is 400 (which is 20x20), so the shortage would be 400 - 384 = 16 tiles. Therefore, the correct answer is A. 16.